World Cup 2022: Lebanese are prevented from following the World Cup due to the economic collapse
Every four years, Jean Bassil eagerly awaits the FIFA World Cup, but the failure of the Lebanese government this year to secure the broadcast of matches on state television prevented him from following the matches of his favorite sport.
In his small mobile shop north of Beirut, Bassil, 58, says angrily, "There is no football this year," adding, "They deprived me of the only thing I enjoy in the midst of all the bad news around us."
Since 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing a chronic economic collapse, which the World Bank ranked among the worst in the world since 1850. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value against the dollar, and more than eighty percent of the population is below the poverty line.
The political paralysis has exacerbated the situation, and Lebanon has been witnessing a vacuum in the presidency for a month. The country is run by a caretaker government that can meet only in emergency cases, and it cannot approve any reform decisions that the international community sets as a condition for supporting Lebanon.
Last week, Minister of Information Ziad Makari reiterated the failure to broadcast football on Lebanon's official television, due to the government's failure to hold meetings to decide and sign a five-million-dollar contract with the Qatari "BN" company, which owns the exclusive right to broadcast the World Cup in the Middle East and North Africa.
Many are not able to subscribe directly to the beIN provider or even with satellite subscription providers, so many resort to cafes and restaurants to follow some matches, while others watch them on electronic piracy sites via their mobile phones or computers.
No matches, no government.
In the Dekwaneh area, east of Beirut, Samer Idris (18 years old) found in a cafe adorned with Brazilian flags his favorite destination to watch the matches, because he was unable to watch them from home due to the slow internet on the one hand and the continuous power outages on the other hand.
Waving the Brazilian flag, he says, "We cannot watch from home because Lebanon TV does not broadcast the matches, and they promised us (the authorities) to broadcast them, but unfortunately they did not implement them," at a time when the Lebanese, according to him, need "entertainment" after three years of economic collapse.
Samer pays 250,000 Lebanese pounds (six dollars) to watch the matches in a cafe, which he finds better than others, since other institutions ask for twice the amount, which he cannot secure.
He points out that his relatives shared among themselves the cost of subscribing to a satellite channel provider, to watch the matches from home.
Around another table, Graciela Dia, 26, sits with her friends in a yellow Brazil shirt.
She simply says, "Tele Liban does not broadcast matches, neither government nor money."
Like Samer and Grazilla, Zain Nasreddin watches the matches from a café in his neighborhood in south Beirut.
The sidewalks around the cafes are also teeming with fans of international clubs, in streets completely darkened by the constant power outages.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news