Dispatch from Doha: Farewell to a one-of-a-kind World Cup
DOHA – Farewell then, Qatar 2022. A World Cup that promised many firsts, delivered some lasts too, and right till the very end, split opinion.
This was the first tournament to be held in the Middle East and Arab world, and the first since the pandemic which changed everyone’s lives.
The end of Sunday’s final will mean we also bid adieu to the 32-team format – in place since 1998 – which will make way for an expansion to 48 sides in four years’ time, as well as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two top players of the last 15 years, whose rivalry for greatness and 12 Ballon d’Ors shared defined a generation.
Goodbye too La’eeb, this World Cup’s mascot, an anthropomorphic ghutra (traditional Arabic headdress) that appears to be omnipresent in Qatar.
La’eeb, according to Fifa, can be credited with part in Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal, and is “indescribable”. Everyone is invited to interpret what it looks like.
Mine is simple. He is a floating white sheet with, I have to hesitantly admit, a very cute face. But it is unnerving seeing him everywhere.
He can be found on bunting around the city, slapped on posters found on walls, bus stops and construction barricades, or immortalised in pewter in gift shops. There is even an “Ask La’eeb” machine at the metro.
Speaking of which, good riddance “Metro, this way”.
Those three words, delivered in a now-famous melody, turned Kenyan Abubakr Abbass into a social media sensation early on in the tournament. But once copycats followed suit – and after you’ve heard it hundreds of times – it gets old. Fast.
The clean and efficient Metro system itself is ace. Various stations along the 37-stop network feature convenience stores, artisanal cafes, and even a bubble tea joint that also sells chili crab chips, which remind me of home.
So long, air-conditioning in the eight gleaming stadiums, which was touted as a game-changing solution for the desert heat and did just that, and more.
The cooling technology developed for the World Cup in Qatar was so effective, it left many fans shivering in their seats, journalists with trembling fingers as we typed out our match reports, and stadium support staff reaching for heavy jackets to stay warm.
See you again, Souq Waqif.
You were always going to be the No. 1 attraction for tourists but Fifa probably did not expect you would also become the unofficial, and arguably more popular, fan fest zone.
The official ones, at Al Bidda Park and the Corniche, required visitors to endure snaking queues and multiple levels of security checks, and then a hit to their wallets for food and drink.
At the centuries-old Souq, fans who frequently thronged the area after games discovered food, freedom and friendship, coffee, colour and celebration.
Finally, take care, football family.
It was incredible to see so many people congregate in one place again and share a love of football and sport. I covered the Tokyo Olympics, held behind closed doors during the pandemic, and while it was a unique experience, the zest that fans bring to a major sports event simply cannot be matched.
Singaporeans too, made my visit memorable, be it old friends who travelled here as fans I caught up with, or new ones among those living here that I made acquaintances with.
Farewell Qatar 2022, and shukran (Arabic for thank you). You have been one of a kind.
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