World Cup brought some changes for Qatar; understand

Qatar is unrecognizable from the country it was 12 years ago, when it won its bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Some $220 billion has been invested in the construction of an entirely new city, a state-of-the-art metro system and hundreds of new hotel and apartment buildings.

Like countries that have hosted major events, Qatar has been under the watchful eye of the international community.

At the same time, its own people were exposed to international ideals, as well as changing cultural and social norms, as they anticipated the influx of over a million football fans into their small country.

“Qatar has changed a lot in the last 12 years and culturally speaking it has had a big impact,” he said. Ali Adnan Abel 30-year-old Qatari soccer fan, CNN 🇧🇷 “We saw more diversity which made Qataris realize that it’s time to lower the shields.”

By hosting the World Cup, Qatar has come under intense pressure to pass legal changes.

He dismantled the controversial Kafala system, a long-established regional labor practice that gives companies and minority citizens control over the employment, movement and immigration status of migrant workers.

“What we’ve seen in this case is that there certainly hasn’t been any international or even national-level attention to the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and that certainly changed after Qatar gained the ability to host the World Cup,” James Lynch director of the human rights group FairSquare and a former British diplomat in Doha, told CNN on Saturday (26).

But questions remain over whether the renovations will continue once the tournament is over and the world’s gaze turns away from the Gulf nation.

The organizers of the event in Qatar insist that these changes are here to stay.

“All of this is actually part of the vision we have for 2030 and is one of the pillars of that vision,” Fatma Al Nuaimi, a spokeswoman for the organizers, the Supreme Committee of Qatar, told the CNN referring to the government’s design decision for its future.

Qatar, a deeply conservative Muslim country, has relaxed alcohol laws in preparation, allowing fans to drink in designated zones, although getting drunk in public is illegal – just two days before the start of the game, the fifa announced that no alcohol would be sold in stadiums.

The tournament also provided an opportunity for men and women to mingle in a segregated country.

Mwomen and children have had a strong presence in fan zones and stadiums, watching games in a traditionally male-dominated sphere.

However, history shows that it is unusual for major sporting events such as the World Cup or the Olympics to be long-term catalysts for social change.

Russia infamously hosted the World Cup in 2018 and has sought to project an image of tolerance by allowing fans to carry rainbow flags despite a years-long crackdown on the LGBTQ community.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin has since shunned liberalism as tensions with the West have risen and, after invading Ukraine earlier this year, Moscow has cracked down hard on any subsequent anti-war protests.

Last week, the country’s lower house of parliament passed an amendment to its “LGBT propaganda” law, banning all Russians from promoting or “praising” same-sex relationships or publicly suggesting they are normal.

On the other hand, studies have shown that Germany’s international perception improved after it hosted the 2006 World Cup, and much of the sports infrastructure installed is still in use.

“For there to be a positive legacy, this change needs to continue,” said Thomas Ross Griffin assistant professor of American and postcolonial literature at Qatar University. “And what the history of tournaments in London, Brazil, Russia has told us, is that change usually ends when the final whistle is blown. It is up to the country to demonstrate to the world that its change is something that will last beyond the final game of the tournament”.

While changes have been made to Qatar’s labor laws, human rights groups say more needs to be done.

Just a month before the start of the World Cup, Amnesty International said that the 2020 labor reforms had not been properly implemented or enforced. Qatar, he said, continues to lack freedom of expression and association and discriminates against women and LGBTQ people in the law.

“Now, the question is whether [esta reforma] was not properly implemented before the World Cup with the world’s eyes on Qatar, what are the prospects after the World Cup that is the big concern,” said Lynch.

While some called for a boycott of Qatar over its treatment of LGBTQ people, others argued that going to Doha and showing solidarity with the community could affect lasting change.

Spain’s openly gay sports minister, miquel iceta said on Thursday (24) that hosting the World Cup will mean a lasting improvement in Qatar’s human rights record, reinforcing freedom and tolerance in the country.

Jakob Jensen the head of the Danish football association, praised the changes that have taken place in Qatar since 2010 in an interview with Becky Anderson of CNN on Thursday: “We don’t believe in boycotts. We believe that you make a difference by participating, discussing, engaging and dialoguing”.

Others, however, see Qatar hosting the event as a slap in the face to human rights activists.

At the 72nd annual FIFA Congress in April, the President of the Norwegian Football Association, Lise Klaveness delivered a scathing speech that called the decision to award the tournament to Qatar “unacceptable” and demanded the federation do more to uphold its principles.

It will likely be months and even years before the true extent of the World Cup’s influence on the tiny Gulf state is known, says Lynch.

“I think there will be an expectation that there will be comparable scrutiny for future big projects, and I think that’s a good thing,” he said. “Whether that leads to full-scale reform I think that’s a bigger question and I think we’ll have to wait and see.”