Qatar marks territory

In the absence of the ball rolling in the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador On November 21, the 2022 World Cup kicked off yesterday in Doha with the group stage draw ceremony, a lavish act in which almost the least of it was football, even though (almost) no one wanted to miss it to an appointment marked in red on the football calendar.

To the parade of selectors, presidents, leaders, organizers, local personalities and other federative retinues was added a brilliant collection of stars that gives a good account of Qatar’s interest in marking territory from the draw, a procedure turned into a declaration of intent. Legends like Casillas, Agüero, Forlán, Seedorf, Mascherano, Matthäus, Cafú, Yaya Touré, Kaká, Wenger, Zanetti, Pirlo, Materazzi or Del Piero (surprising representation of Italians) did not miss the appointment. The great absentee in Doha was Kylian Mbappéwho declined the emir’s invitation to be the big claim in a ceremony in which glitter and propaganda were left over and football was lacking.

Gianni Infantino and the Emir de Qatar, Tamin bin Hamad Al Thaniwent hand in hand as masters of ceremonies at a gala with all the typical ingredients of these days: a Hollywood red carpet in the preliminaries, a long round of presentations (the official mascot and song were yet to be known) and the usual speeches calling the unity and peace before entering the matter in a draw without a group of death and in which, with three repechages to go, not all the contenders were still present.

“Our world is divided, it is aggressive, these occasions serve for people to come together to celebrate. The request made by the football community is, to all the authorities in the world, to stop the war. We want this World Cup to be the World Cup for peace”, affirmed the FIFA president, oblivious to the reports from organizations such as Aamnesty international O Human Rights Watch denouncing the Qatari regime’s violation of some of the most basic human rights. Presentations made, Qatar will pass the cotton test in eight months in the world most unusual of all time.

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