Reportage

Is football part of the culture of Qatar?

The flags of the countries participating in the World Cup during the filming of a welcome clip, in Qanat, Doha.

© Anne Bernas/RFI

Text by: Anne Bernas Follow

10 mins

For this 22nd edition of the Football World Cup, Qatar, the host country, has not without difficulty put the small dishes in the big ones.

Does this planetary event only have an economic objective for the small gas emirate or is football a real passion in the country?

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From our special correspondent in Qatar, 

“

In chorus, young children displaying flags in the colors of all the countries participating in the World Cup sing in English and Arabic, at the top of their voices, on small boats that navigate on one of the artificial rivers of the new Qanat district, in the north of Doha.

It's over 36 degrees, the humidity is over 60% but nothing can stop them.

Besides these young people who are trying to complete a video for D-Day, there is also not a cat in the streets of the capital, except, as every day, migrant construction workers.

In these climatic conditions, one can only ask the question: how to do sports outside, and in this case football in the heart of the desert?

Is football rooted in Qatari culture in the same way as camel racing or is it just an opportunity? 

Chronology of World Cups in the Doha Metro.

© Anne Bernas/RFI

In the cafes of Doha, talking with taxi drivers or shopping center doormen, everyone is unanimous: football here is sacred.

“ 

,” exclaims Richard, originally from Ghana.

" 

 ," adds Ahmad, a 22-year-old Indian who has become very "patriotic".

Man or woman, young or less young, the round ball seems to be unanimous.

World Cup effect?

Apparently not, since the stadiums are always full, according to the fans, and the “Al derby” and “Al klasiko” meetings between the biggest clubs in the country fascinate the Qataris.

There is even a women's team, although little appreciated by Qatari conservatives.

In the cafes and hotels of the capital, the major foreign football championships are broadcast on giant screens.

At the end of October, expatriates, Qataris and tourists are thus faithful to the meeting to devour "the" flagship match of the European Champions League, FC Barcelona-Bayern Munich.

" 

 ," says Raphaël Le Magoariec, a doctoral student in the Arab World and Mediterranean (EMAM) team at the University of Tours and a researcher in sports policies in the countries of the Council of Gulf cooperation.

A culture and a passion certainly more recent than in other countries, but which all the same have a liability. 

Designed by a firm of British architects, Foster and Partners, the Lusail stadium is inspired by "traditional Arab craftsmanship, all in gilding and roundness".

© Anne Bernas/RFI

Migrants, the spearhead of Qatari football

It was at the end of the 1940s, at the beginning of the development of the oil industry, that football made its appearance in the small emirate, with the arrival of foreign workers from the Arab world (including many Egyptians) where football is already very present.

The interactions between these workers led Qatar to take an interest in football.

Thanks to the fallout from oil, football will be able to become institutionalized, especially during the country's independence in 1971. " 

", notes Raphaël Le Magoariec.

And from the 1980s, the Qatar team recorded its first "success" on the international scene, notably against France at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 (2-2).

“ 

” continues the researcher.

Some members of the ruling family are beginning to funnel some of their wealth into local clubs.

It was also at the same time that the Aspire Academy was born, a gigantic training center run in turn by big names in world football, which will train players from all over the world and who will be naturalized based on their performance (90% of the Qatari population being foreign).

This selection program also extends to Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Qatari football is attracting more and more people, and that's the goal.

Former Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc is thus appointed coach from December 2020 to February 2022 of the Al-Rayyan club;

in 2019, Qatar won the Asian Cup thanks to its overtrained national team.

The Mondial has invaded the souk Waqif.

© Anne Bernas/RFI

A symbol of identity

If sport, and in particular football, has been a tool of soft power in the emirate since the 1990s, it nevertheless remains a " 

 ", adds Raphaël Le Magoariec.

“

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an economic embargo for three and a half years and diplomacy in Qatar, judged in particular to be too close to Iran and accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, Editor's note

 »

Because the neighbors of the small emirate like to criticize Qatar, claiming that its players are naturalized, Sudanese, Yemenis, Egyptians etc, and this while the Emirates also have many naturalized players in their national team.

“

 And this although Saudi Arabia is making more and more efforts to reach its Qatari rival, for example by creating its own sports academy on the model of the Dohanese.

Dressed in her traditional abaya, captured by the actions of Bayern, Houda did not resist.

She takes out her phone and comments on her photos: “ 

“And the young Qatari, quite proud, to concede that she is privileged: she will go to see three World Cup matches, her national team jersey on her back, regardless of her record. 

Doha in pictures

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