10-09-2017, 10:26 PM
*** 10-Oct-17 World View -- UAE official says Arab blockade was engineered to prevent Qatar hosting 2022 World Cup
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** UAE official says Arab blockade was engineered to prevent Qatar hosting 2022 World Cup
****
![[Image: g171009b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171009b.jpg)
Al Wakrah Stadium, with a 45,120 capacity, and a state of the art cooling system, is under construction and scheduled for completion by the end of 2018
I usually don't do sports stories, but this bizarre sports story has
geopolitical implications.
A Sunday tweet by Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan, head of Dubai Security for
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said:
<QUOTE>"If the World Cup leaves Qatar, the crisis will go
away ... because the crisis is created to break it."<END QUOTE>
The "crisis" refers to the land, air and sea blockade of Qatar that
was imposed on June 5 by four Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, UAE,
Egypt and Bahrain. Nobody expected the blockade to last for more than
a few days, but now four months have passed, and there's no end in
sight.
The four countries listed 13 specific demands
that would be necessary to resolve the crisis. The demands
included: sever most ties with Iran; sever all ties to the Muslim
Brotherhood; shut down al-Jazeera; terminate Turkey's military
presence in Qatar; pay reparations and compensation for loss of life
and other, financial losses caused by Qatar’s policies in recent
years.
So now, a UAE official is saying that none of those demands was
relevant. The purpose of the blockade was to force Qatar to give up
hosting the 2022 World Cup, and that "if the World Cup leaves Qatar,
then the crisis goes away."
The World Cup, or world football (soccer) championship, refers to what
is probably the most prestigious sporting event in the world,
exceeding even the Olympics. It's sponsored by the International
Football Federation (FIFA, or Fédération Internationale de Football
Association).
The UAE official did not say why the Gulf states were seeking to
prevent Qatar from hosting the 2022 World Cup. Perhaps it's because
Qatar defeated Saudi Arabia on November 26, 2014, to win the Gulf Cup
of Nations that the Saudis had been favored to win. Since then, Saudi
officials have complained frequently that Qatar won the competition to
host the 2022 World Cup through bribery and corruption. AP and Gulf Times (Qatar) and Al Bawaba (Palestine) and Peninsula Qatar and Arab News (27-Jun)
Related Articles
****
**** Numerous controversies surround FIFA's award of World Cup 2022 to Qatar
****
From the day in 2010 that FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar,
it's been extremely controversial, and has had numerous scandals.
Qatar itself is not really a football (soccer) playing country. At
the time of the award, FIFA ranked Qatar as 113th in the world. Today
its rank is 109. The Qatar team has never reached the World Cup
final.
A major scandal was that Qatar's proposal to host the World Cup
apparently lied about the country's intentions for handling the summer
heat. The event is supposed to take place in June or July, when
Qatar's weather is sweltering, with high temperatures typically
ranging from 105F to 120F. In its proposal, Qatar wrote the
following:
<QUOTE>"Each of the five stadia will harness the power of the
sun's rays to provide a cool environment for players and fans by
converting solar energy into electricity that will then be used to
cool both fans and players at the stadia. When games are not
taking place, the solar installations at the stadia will export
energy onto the power grid. During matches, the stadia will draw
energy from the grid.
This is the basis for the stadia's carbon-neutrality. Along with
the stadia, we plan to make the cooling technologies we’ve
developed available to other countries in hot climates, so that
they too can host major sporting events."<END QUOTE>
This was close to a science fiction fantasy. After Qatar received the
award, it demanded that the dates of the World Cup be changed from
June-July to November-December. FIFA finally agreed to the change
over many objections from individual football clubs that they would be
forced to make major changes to their own schedules.
Another major scandal has to do with the building of stadiums and
other infrastructure required for the event.
By some estimates, the World Cup is going to cost Qatar approximately
$220 billion, which is about 60 times the $3.5 billion that South
Africa spent on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This has always been an
issue, but now with the Arab states' blockade on Qatar, Qatar's
economy has been suffering, and this cost may be prohibitive.
Human rights have become an even more explosive issue. Qataris are
the richest people in the world, on a per capita basis, because
of the country's oil wealth, and so the Qatari people are used to a
life of leisure, with servants drawn from the huge number of migrant
laborers coming from countries like India, Nepal, Philippines, Sri
Lanka, and Pakistan. There are said to be five migrant workers in
Qatar for each citizen. Hundreds of thousands of those same foreign
workers would be the laborers building the stadiums and other
infrastructure.
Being a migrant worker in Qatar has been described as close to slave
labor. A Qatari boss sponsors the migrant worker, and then has total
control over him or her. The worker is not permitted to leave change
jobs, or leave jobs, or return home, without the permission of the
boss, and must work as much as 21 hours per day if required, with no
overtime pay. An unpaid worker has little recourse.
This is known as the "Kafala system," used throughout the Gulf region.
It's so abusive that it's described as a system of modern day national
slavery. Because of the World Cup controversies, Qatar was forced to
announce in December 2016 that it was abolishing the Kafala system,
giving migrant workers additional rights to change jobs or leave the
country, but the main abuses of the Kafala system are still in place.
A final major scandal were the allegations of corruption -- that Qatar
was awarded the 2022 World Cup because of bribes paid to various FIFA
officials. An independent investigation was conducted, but FIFA
refused to release the final report when it was completed in
September, 2014, only releasing a summary that said that Qatar was
cleared of wrongdoing. In June of this year, the full report was
finally released to the press. It raised a lot of questions, but did
not prove wrongdoing.
Those are the major scandals. One minor scandal had to do with
alcohol consumption, which is illegal in Qatar. Qatar has said that
alcohol consumption by non-citizens will be permitted under strictly
controlled circumstances. City AM (London, 25-Feb-2015) and BBC (8-Apr-2015) and
Special Broadcasting Service (Australia) and BBC (13-Dec-2016)
Related: Migrant Indian workers in Saudi Arabia face starvation (01-Aug-2016)
****
**** A new 'risk report' raises doubts about Qatar hosting World Cup 2022
****
The tweet by the UAE minister saying that the Gulf crisis was
engineered to prevent Qatar from hosting World Cup 2022 may have been
triggered by a report issued two days earlier by a British consulting
firm, Cornerstone Global.
The report is entitled "Qatar in focus: Is the Fifa World Cup 2022 in
danger?" and it says that thanks to pressure from the Gulf blockade,
the chances have increased substantially that Qatar will not host the
event. In particular, logistics costs for construction of the
stadiums and other infrastructure have increased 20-25% because of the
blockade. The report contains these excerpts:
<QUOTE>"Western diplomats have privately stated they do not
know whether or not the tournament will take place as planned.
The reasons for this are many and include open allegations of
corruption - both in the bidding process and in the infrastructure
development.
Qatar is under greater pressure regarding its hosting of the
tournament... the current political crisis has seen - or at least
raised the possibility of - a Qatari opposition movement emerging.
This means an increased risk for those working on, or seeking
contracts for World Cup 2022 infrastructure... with a risk of
non-payment and no realistic ability to enforce any legal
contracts.
Given the current political situation... it is certainly possible
that the tournament will not be held in Qatar.
Any cancellation of Qatar hosting the World Cup 2022 will likely
be abrupt and will leave contractors involved in a precarious
situation that may not be easily resolved.
Construction sources in Qatar have informed us that companies
working on the World Cup, whilst not panicking yet, are already
feeling the impact of the sanctions, with logistics proving costly
and challenging to re-organise in light of the border closures
with its neighbours.
A group of five project managers working for a variety of small
multi-national companies, all with government contracts related to
World Cup construction, told us in July 2017 that their costs have
increased by between 20 and 25% due to logistical problems. ...
Sources within the project have indicated that several members of
the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee have threatened to resign over
excessive interference by senior officials on spending and
allegations of corruption."<END QUOTE>
Qatar officials have responded by saying: "In the context of the
current political situation we question the motives of an organization
- which makes no secret of its affiliation to the countries blockading
Qatar - of publishing a report based entirely on media reports and
anonymous sources." BBC and Arab News
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt,
United Arab Emirates, UAE, Gen. Dhahi Khalfan,
FIFA, International Football Federation, World Cup 2022,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association,
India, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,
Kafala system, Cornerstone Global
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- UAE official says Arab blockade was engineered to prevent Qatar hosting 2022 World Cup
- Numerous controversies surround FIFA's award of World Cup 2022 to Qatar
- A new 'risk report' raises doubts about Qatar hosting World Cup 2022
****
**** UAE official says Arab blockade was engineered to prevent Qatar hosting 2022 World Cup
****
Al Wakrah Stadium, with a 45,120 capacity, and a state of the art cooling system, is under construction and scheduled for completion by the end of 2018
I usually don't do sports stories, but this bizarre sports story has
geopolitical implications.
A Sunday tweet by Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan, head of Dubai Security for
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said:
<QUOTE>"If the World Cup leaves Qatar, the crisis will go
away ... because the crisis is created to break it."<END QUOTE>
The "crisis" refers to the land, air and sea blockade of Qatar that
was imposed on June 5 by four Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, UAE,
Egypt and Bahrain. Nobody expected the blockade to last for more than
a few days, but now four months have passed, and there's no end in
sight.
The four countries listed 13 specific demands
that would be necessary to resolve the crisis. The demands
included: sever most ties with Iran; sever all ties to the Muslim
Brotherhood; shut down al-Jazeera; terminate Turkey's military
presence in Qatar; pay reparations and compensation for loss of life
and other, financial losses caused by Qatar’s policies in recent
years.
So now, a UAE official is saying that none of those demands was
relevant. The purpose of the blockade was to force Qatar to give up
hosting the 2022 World Cup, and that "if the World Cup leaves Qatar,
then the crisis goes away."
The World Cup, or world football (soccer) championship, refers to what
is probably the most prestigious sporting event in the world,
exceeding even the Olympics. It's sponsored by the International
Football Federation (FIFA, or Fédération Internationale de Football
Association).
The UAE official did not say why the Gulf states were seeking to
prevent Qatar from hosting the 2022 World Cup. Perhaps it's because
Qatar defeated Saudi Arabia on November 26, 2014, to win the Gulf Cup
of Nations that the Saudis had been favored to win. Since then, Saudi
officials have complained frequently that Qatar won the competition to
host the 2022 World Cup through bribery and corruption. AP and Gulf Times (Qatar) and Al Bawaba (Palestine) and Peninsula Qatar and Arab News (27-Jun)
Related Articles
- Qatar and Saudi Arabia have vitriolic exchange at Arab League meeting (13-Sep-2017)
- As Hajj approaches, Iran and Qatar remain in dispute with Saudi Arabia (27-Aug-2017)
- Egypt calls Qatar an 'enemy state' (30-Jun-2016)
- Gulf Arab states have major split over Egypt and Iran (06-Mar-2014)
****
**** Numerous controversies surround FIFA's award of World Cup 2022 to Qatar
****
From the day in 2010 that FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar,
it's been extremely controversial, and has had numerous scandals.
Qatar itself is not really a football (soccer) playing country. At
the time of the award, FIFA ranked Qatar as 113th in the world. Today
its rank is 109. The Qatar team has never reached the World Cup
final.
A major scandal was that Qatar's proposal to host the World Cup
apparently lied about the country's intentions for handling the summer
heat. The event is supposed to take place in June or July, when
Qatar's weather is sweltering, with high temperatures typically
ranging from 105F to 120F. In its proposal, Qatar wrote the
following:
<QUOTE>"Each of the five stadia will harness the power of the
sun's rays to provide a cool environment for players and fans by
converting solar energy into electricity that will then be used to
cool both fans and players at the stadia. When games are not
taking place, the solar installations at the stadia will export
energy onto the power grid. During matches, the stadia will draw
energy from the grid.
This is the basis for the stadia's carbon-neutrality. Along with
the stadia, we plan to make the cooling technologies we’ve
developed available to other countries in hot climates, so that
they too can host major sporting events."<END QUOTE>
This was close to a science fiction fantasy. After Qatar received the
award, it demanded that the dates of the World Cup be changed from
June-July to November-December. FIFA finally agreed to the change
over many objections from individual football clubs that they would be
forced to make major changes to their own schedules.
Another major scandal has to do with the building of stadiums and
other infrastructure required for the event.
By some estimates, the World Cup is going to cost Qatar approximately
$220 billion, which is about 60 times the $3.5 billion that South
Africa spent on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This has always been an
issue, but now with the Arab states' blockade on Qatar, Qatar's
economy has been suffering, and this cost may be prohibitive.
Human rights have become an even more explosive issue. Qataris are
the richest people in the world, on a per capita basis, because
of the country's oil wealth, and so the Qatari people are used to a
life of leisure, with servants drawn from the huge number of migrant
laborers coming from countries like India, Nepal, Philippines, Sri
Lanka, and Pakistan. There are said to be five migrant workers in
Qatar for each citizen. Hundreds of thousands of those same foreign
workers would be the laborers building the stadiums and other
infrastructure.
Being a migrant worker in Qatar has been described as close to slave
labor. A Qatari boss sponsors the migrant worker, and then has total
control over him or her. The worker is not permitted to leave change
jobs, or leave jobs, or return home, without the permission of the
boss, and must work as much as 21 hours per day if required, with no
overtime pay. An unpaid worker has little recourse.
This is known as the "Kafala system," used throughout the Gulf region.
It's so abusive that it's described as a system of modern day national
slavery. Because of the World Cup controversies, Qatar was forced to
announce in December 2016 that it was abolishing the Kafala system,
giving migrant workers additional rights to change jobs or leave the
country, but the main abuses of the Kafala system are still in place.
A final major scandal were the allegations of corruption -- that Qatar
was awarded the 2022 World Cup because of bribes paid to various FIFA
officials. An independent investigation was conducted, but FIFA
refused to release the final report when it was completed in
September, 2014, only releasing a summary that said that Qatar was
cleared of wrongdoing. In June of this year, the full report was
finally released to the press. It raised a lot of questions, but did
not prove wrongdoing.
Those are the major scandals. One minor scandal had to do with
alcohol consumption, which is illegal in Qatar. Qatar has said that
alcohol consumption by non-citizens will be permitted under strictly
controlled circumstances. City AM (London, 25-Feb-2015) and BBC (8-Apr-2015) and
Special Broadcasting Service (Australia) and BBC (13-Dec-2016)
Related: Migrant Indian workers in Saudi Arabia face starvation (01-Aug-2016)
****
**** A new 'risk report' raises doubts about Qatar hosting World Cup 2022
****
The tweet by the UAE minister saying that the Gulf crisis was
engineered to prevent Qatar from hosting World Cup 2022 may have been
triggered by a report issued two days earlier by a British consulting
firm, Cornerstone Global.
The report is entitled "Qatar in focus: Is the Fifa World Cup 2022 in
danger?" and it says that thanks to pressure from the Gulf blockade,
the chances have increased substantially that Qatar will not host the
event. In particular, logistics costs for construction of the
stadiums and other infrastructure have increased 20-25% because of the
blockade. The report contains these excerpts:
<QUOTE>"Western diplomats have privately stated they do not
know whether or not the tournament will take place as planned.
The reasons for this are many and include open allegations of
corruption - both in the bidding process and in the infrastructure
development.
Qatar is under greater pressure regarding its hosting of the
tournament... the current political crisis has seen - or at least
raised the possibility of - a Qatari opposition movement emerging.
This means an increased risk for those working on, or seeking
contracts for World Cup 2022 infrastructure... with a risk of
non-payment and no realistic ability to enforce any legal
contracts.
Given the current political situation... it is certainly possible
that the tournament will not be held in Qatar.
Any cancellation of Qatar hosting the World Cup 2022 will likely
be abrupt and will leave contractors involved in a precarious
situation that may not be easily resolved.
Construction sources in Qatar have informed us that companies
working on the World Cup, whilst not panicking yet, are already
feeling the impact of the sanctions, with logistics proving costly
and challenging to re-organise in light of the border closures
with its neighbours.
A group of five project managers working for a variety of small
multi-national companies, all with government contracts related to
World Cup construction, told us in July 2017 that their costs have
increased by between 20 and 25% due to logistical problems. ...
Sources within the project have indicated that several members of
the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee have threatened to resign over
excessive interference by senior officials on spending and
allegations of corruption."<END QUOTE>
Qatar officials have responded by saying: "In the context of the
current political situation we question the motives of an organization
- which makes no secret of its affiliation to the countries blockading
Qatar - of publishing a report based entirely on media reports and
anonymous sources." BBC and Arab News
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt,
United Arab Emirates, UAE, Gen. Dhahi Khalfan,
FIFA, International Football Federation, World Cup 2022,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association,
India, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,
Kafala system, Cornerstone Global
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
