As a “rentier, oligarchic, and clientelist” regime, Qatar has—as researcher Danyel Reiche explains—implemented a soft power strategy through sports. This strategy, launched in 1995 after Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani came to power, was reinforced in 2008 by the Qatar National Vision 2030, a program aimed at both strengthening national security and ensuring the ruling family’s continued hold on power.
It is in this context that, from November 20 to December 18 (National Day), Qatar will host the22nd FIFA World Cup. Heated controversies have rocked the years between the tournament’s award (2010)—which was controversial and marred by allegations of corruption —and its organization. These controversies center in particular on the cost of construction, estimated at $200 billion; the event’s environmental footprint, even though it will be the geographically most compact World Cup since the very first one, held in 1930 in Montevideo; the near-slave-like working conditions on construction sites and the number of worker deaths, highlighted in particular by a Guardian investigation…This list is by no means exhaustive.
All of these questions are entirely relevant, but as the World Cup approaches, other important concerns are emerging regarding the reception of fans as well as overall security.
During the World Cup, Qatar will welcome nearly 1.5 million tourists, out of a total population of 2.9 million (90% of whom are immigrants, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who recently moved there!), in a territory roughly the size of the Île-de-France region.
This World Cup is a major tourism opportunity for a country that welcomed nearly 3 million tourists per year in the mid-2010s (before the 2017 blockade and the COVID-19 crisis) These fans will be concentrated within a very small area: seven of the eight stadiums are located in Doha or within a 20-kilometer radius (in Al-Rayyan and Al-Wakrah), and only 75 kilometers separate the northernmost stadium (in Al-Khor) from the southernmost one (in Al-Wakrah).
The first part of the competition (November 21 through December 2) will be particularly challenging, as the group stage will feature 48 matches—four per day—involving massive and constant travel by eight groups of fans. This stands in contrast to previous tournaments, where only two teams and their fans were in the same city at the same time.
Managing crowd flow will therefore be a major challenge. Helmut Spahn, FIFA’s director of security, estimates that 350,000 fans will be in Doha at the same time, but remains confident: “We have to manage this. But we can make history, and I’m almost certain we’ll pull it off.”
With the eyes of the world’s media focused on it for five weeks, Qatar cannot afford even the slightest misstep when it comes to security. From this perspective, there are two major challenges: security in public spaces and in the stadiums; and the fight against terrorism.
How can we manage these crowds over the course of several weeks—especially since, unlike the large number of immigrant workers who are permanently in the country, they will have substantial financial resources at their disposal, given that airfare and hotel prices are very high, and they will have plenty of free time?
Some aspects of the answer to this question have been the subject of numerous statements, news reports, and—indeed—fake news. Take, for example, individual and collective behavior in public spaces: it is true that local dress codes require the body to be covered, even if some leeway is granted to tourists, and public displays of affection clash with local cultural values and are prohibited; as for alcohol consumption and public intoxication, they are punishable by law. However, alcohol is available at certain international restaurants and hotels, and FIFA has announced that beer from the main sponsor will be available in the fan zones three hours before and one hour after matches.
[Nearly 80,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to better understand the world’s major issues. Subscribe today]
Not long ago, a rumor spread following an article in the tabloid *Daily Star* claiming that premarital sex was completely prohibited. It is, in fact, prohibited, but in reality very few hotels enforce this rule by asking couples for a marriage certificate, since the staff is almost exclusively foreign.
On the other hand, it is true that homosexuality is not tolerated in Qatar. It is a criminal offense, and those found guilty face up to seven years in prison.
FIFA assures, however, that it is working with Qatar to “ensure the safety and a warm welcome for all participants in the FIFA World Cup. This involves ensuring that law enforcement activities related to the FIFA World Cup are strictly necessary and proportionate. “As has been the case at several international events that Qatar has hosted, people’s privacy will be respected.”
However, the Qatari authorities have not formally committed to this, and overt demonstrations would offend Qatari nationals to the point of disrupting public order.
While the conference “ The Final Mile of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar” was held in May in Doha, attended by security officials representing each of the 32 qualifying teams, Qatar has long been developing partnerships to address certain challenges such as managing the terrorist threat, hooliganism, crowd control, cyberattacks, as well as certain issues that local authorities are not accustomed to handling: counterfeiting, alcohol consumption, and actions by protest groups…
Unlike other Arab Gulf countries, Qatar is on good terms with Iran, with which it shares the North Dome—the world’s largest gas field. Tehran even came to Qatar’s aid with food supplies during the 2017 blockade, so it seems unlikely that an attack would come from there, especially since the national team is competing in the World Cup. However, because Qatar acted as a mediator during the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, a potential jihadist threat could come from groups based in that country, such as the Islamic State of Khorasan, which has become more active since the U.S. withdrawal and recently carried out attacks in Kabul and Herat, opposing the Taliban regime.
However, no threats were made. Finally, last but not least, a report commissioned in 2010 by Jérôme Vlacke of France, then FIFA Secretary General, noted that Qatar’s proximity to countries with an Al-Qaeda presence and its plan to cram millions of fans and players into a highly centralized area made it a high-risk location…
In this regard, cooperation with France (which began as early as the 2006 Asian Games in Doha) took concrete form in 2019 during a visit to Qatar by the then-French Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, and was followed by an agreement signed in Doha on March 21, 2021. Qatar was then designated a “strategic partner for France.” This led to a bill in the Senate covering the following areas: planning, counterterrorism, public order management, intelligence, security of sports facilities, transportation security, special ground forces, air assets, cybersecurity, and civil security.
Assistance and training missions will be carried out with local internal security forces (information sharing, deployment of experts and specialists, joint training exercises). Plans also include the deployment of gendarmes, police officers, and firefighters, as well as the provision of materials, equipment, vehicles, and machinery.
Another partnership is with Turkey, which has trained 677 Qatari security personnel in 38 fields and will deploy 3,000 riot police officers, 100 special forces members, 50 bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers, and 50 bomb disposal experts.
For its part, Morocco will send a team of cybersecurity experts to the event, as well as several thousand officers to manage the crowds and prevent any disturbances.
In addition, the British Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will provide counterterrorism police, and the allied nations of the United Kingdom and Qatar will join forces within a Joint Typhoon Squadron to provide air policing. For its part, the United States (which operates its largest military base in the Middle East at Al-Udeid) will participate in training airport personnel and in cybersecurity efforts.
Finally, NATO will provide security support through training on threats posed by chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials; through a second training program on the protection of VIPs; and through a third program on countering threats posed by improvised explosive devices.
Qatar states that, during the tournament, an international police cooperation center will be in place to prevent any incidents. Furthermore, FIFA’s director of security believes that the terrorist threat is “low and under control” compared to previous World Cups: “We’ve had threats of terrorist attacks before a World Cup, strikes by private security and police, and sometimes infrastructure problems at stadiums that weren’t ready. That’s not the case here.”
Hosting the 2022 World Cup is a major image issue for Qatar, which explains these international security partnerships. It also explains these calls for tolerance, though it remains to be seen whether they will translate into positive action during the event.
The harsh criticism the country has faced for years regarding its failure to respect human and labor rights, as well as its intolerance of different lifestyles, highlights the country’s dark side. Any incident related to these issues could to obscure the message that Qatar conveys to the world regarding the quality of hospitality and tolerance, which are essential components of a strategy to attract tourists.
