The spider will form the centerpiece of one of the cultural highlights of this winter’s World Cup in Qatar: a month-long electronic music festival called the Arcadia Spectacular, held south of Doha and promotional materials designed to “electrify the atmosphere, extraordinary Sculpting phase”. And the most impressive show on earth.”
The idea at England’s Glastonbury Festival has been framed fairly transparently – the spider itself has been a regular feature there for a decade – and, although it was only announced at a relatively late stage in preparation for the World Cup, organizers had to It is expected to attract approximately 200,000 fans. Each of them should be warned: it turns out that they “will be charmed until late at night.”
The spider, however, won’t be alone, which can potentially be a problem when you’re a nightmarish metal giant.
Arcadia Spectacular Qatar is not the only music festival to be held in 2022. Al Waqarah will have another, hosted by a company called MDLBEST: you can tell it’s going to be cutting edge, because it’s capitalized and it’s also eliminated some of its vowels, which are the oldest-fashioned letters. Huh.
However, these events are only part of the entertainment tapestry offered to fans during the tournament. There is Al Maha Island with an ice-skating rink, circus and theme park; Lusail, the first city built for the World Cup, will have a “vehicle parade” and futuristic light shows on Central Boulevard; Doha Corniche, 4 miles of wandering street performers and “carnival atmosphere”; And, of course, there are beach clubs, fan parks and, around every stadium for every game, the charmingly named “Last Mile Cultural Activation.”
Qatar, in other words, has been as good as its word: it promised it would do a show, and it has delivered. No expense has been made. No stone has been left unturned. Its plans are grand, and ambitious, and brilliant for what can be called a tournament experience.
It’s only a shame that they don’t, in any way, reflect what the fans want or need, and that they betray such a fundamental misunderstanding – both on the part of the local organizers. And more perniciously than, FIFA itself – is this what makes the World Cup special.
It’s not football that makes the World Cup, not really. There are times when games are captivating and nail-biting and heartbreaking, of course, when what happens on the field is like a bright, permanent tattoo or a mark of pain on the collective memory. But more often, it’s something a little more ethereal. The World Cup is, at heart, a feeling.
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For example, the most memorable thing about Russia four years ago was not the winning French team. It was not the Croatian side that propelled the nation of 5 million to the pinnacle of ultimate glory. It was also not the sight of Germany, the reigning champion, crashing in the group stage, or Spain self-immolating.
No, what made Russia 2018 – especially now, considering how unrealistic that month in the sun seems – was Nikolskaya, a street in central Moscow that became a hub for fans around the world, Which was full of flags and buns and songs. It was the sight of thousands of Peruvians on the streets of Saransk, a red stripe in their hearts. It was the feeling that, even in the vast land of steppe and mountain and forest, you were never more than 6 feet from a Colombian.
That joy, that sense of oneness, doesn’t just touch the people present. It spreads like a smile to many, many more looking at home. It not only provides the soundtrack for the games but also the background. It turns stadiums from sterile bowls into something full of life. It simply takes a soccer tournament and turns it into an event. It cannot be forced. It cannot be ordered into an existence. It has to conceive, develop, ferment.
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There are many reasons to criticize the idea of a World Cup in Qatar. First and foremost, there are ongoing concerns about human rights, the irritating morality of a tournament built on and by indentured labor. There’s also the troubling uncertainty, over how welcoming gay fans might be, will it really be a tournament for everyone.
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But although this downplays the importance of those issues, it is also worth considering what kind of World Cup this could be, because it is there that it is possible to see clearly that not only Qatar – and especially FIFA – Who thinks the world is up to the biggest sporting event, but what is it.
In August, three months before the tournament began, Qatar announced Arcadia Fabulous with their formidable steel tarantula. It seemed strange to reveal such a huge addition to the slate in such a short period of time, but much of the World Cup has clearly been a last-minute breeze. It is as if all the effort, all the energy was put into securing the tournament and building the stadiums, so that at the very last moment one has to wonder about all the people who might come to watch.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the accommodations expected to be attended by millions of fans in November and December. Even now, less than two months later, not all of the accommodation being prepared for the tournament is available to book, which is very good reason why it’s not all ready.
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And there is cost. Tournament organizers say Qatar has a “comfortable list of fans”: they say, there will be “130,000 rooms” for fans each night of the tournament. With options ranging from hotels to villas and apartments and cruise ships, luxury tents, simple cabins and even camper vans, there is “something to suit everyone.” A spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said “the cheapest option is “as little as $80 per room per night.”
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While that’s true, it’s not quite clear what that $80 buys you. Many organizations representing fan interests cast significant doubts about what types of facilities will be offered at cabin parks. It is not yet clear, a representative said, if people living in the park will be able to watch the game on television, or how they will access food and water. (The Supreme Committee insists that there will be food trucks at each site.)
Nor is it entirely clear what proportion of available accommodation can be counted as “suitable for the budget-conscious traveller”, as the Qatar Accommodation Agency website, central to booking rooms in Qatar during tournaments Portal, it puts. (The Supreme Committee did not specify what percentage of the available rooms in Qatar could be considered relatively low-cost for the tournament.)
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Currently, apartments are available for $102 per person per night for certain dates, although they come with a caveat that availability is running low. Miss out on them and the price creeps up quickly. Other options start at $300 per night. A luxury tent costs more than $400. A berth on a cruise ship starts at around $500. Hotels can raise up to thousands of dollars for a night.
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Of course, it is not unusual for prices to rise during a major event. Just as they may be in a Champions League final, or in the Super Bowl, fans are expected to score a handful of goals when they choose – and it’s important to remember that this is a choice – to attend. For. The price of flights increases almost immediately. A premium is added to hotel rooms. Private tenants get the opportunity. There’s nothing like sport for the ugliest celebration of capitalism.
But although this problem is certainly not unique to Qatar, it is certainly more pronounced. South Africa and Brazil and Russia may also attract existing networks of cheap hostels and midrange hotels, as well as private homes available on Airbnb.
Their prices went up as well, and the photos – from bitter personal experience – didn’t always match reality, but it was possible to participate in all those tournaments on a relative budget. The more adventurous the person may be able to rent a van, or pitch a tent, or squeeze into a hotel room with far more friends, as advised.
Neither of these options is available in Qatar. The existing hotel infrastructure is almost exclusively luxury. Many of the hotels that have been built for the tournament are surprisingly the same. Some hostels seem to have been booked. As of late, authorities have allowed Qatari residents to rent out their homes privately, but doing so at the last minute doesn’t exactly scream “low cost.”
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This is the World Cup as Qatar envisions it, and FIFA as it appears: a premium product, a lifestyle experience that can be achieved at a certain price point, a sport for the corporate class. The grounds of the traveling wealthy, luxury travellers. It is a phenomenon designed by consultants, for consultants, to be the kind of space in which a giant, fire-breathing spider is hired to disguise the absence of sensation in the spectacle.
And this World Cup, sadly, will be poor for it. The atmosphere of a carnival is not something that can be brought into existence. It’s not possible to take all of Glastonbury’s stages and sets and logistics and recreate them anywhere, just as it’s not possible to take the organic, authentic melts from thousands of fans around the world and replace it. A series of “cultural events” and “sponsor activities”.
What makes the World Cup, who always makes the World Cup, are the people. Neither on the field, nor in the stands, but those who come just to be there, just to sample it, to add color and sound and enjoyment.
It’s hard not to worry that many of those fans would have been left out of Qatar, or excluded from being allowed into the country without tickets for a game, and sentiment would change with them, calling the tournament off. An ersatz version of itself, an homage to all the things money can buy—including a flame-throwing spider—and all the things it can’t.
This article originally appeared in
new York Times,
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