The Lusail Stadium was built by a Chinese company and was printed on local banknotes.
Photo by Tomita
China News Service, Doha, December 2 (Reporter Xing Chong) During the reporting period of the World Cup in Qatar, the first sentence I met with my colleagues and colleagues every day was almost always: "Have you passed?"
This does not mean "eaten", but whether the applied for event tickets "passed".
When reporting on the World Cup, media reporters need to apply for tickets in advance, and three options will appear in the status bar: requested (applied), approved (passed), and rejected (rejected).
Not all reporters can enter the venue to report.
FIFA has a rather complicated media ticketing system. In the group stage, each reporter can apply for tickets for at most two games per day, and for the knockout stage, each reporter can only apply for one ticket per day.
In addition to the quantity limit, FIFA has also divided the priority of the distribution of tickets for the media.
For example, the national media of both sides of the game will give priority to the distribution of tickets, followed by the host country media, followed by the media of the countries or regions where the remaining top 32 teams are located, and finally the media of the rest of the countries.
Chinese journalists without a home team can only be classified as "the rest".
As one of the two news agencies in China, and with the year-round coverage of the World Cup, China News Agency ranks relatively high in the ranks of "others", and generally can guarantee at least one text ticket and photo ticket.
However, when you arrive at the scene, you will often find that the original Chinese journalists have to squeeze in the stands with the fans, and the reporters can only put their laptops on their laps when they work, and they cannot charge or connect to the Internet.
At this time, I will be very envious of the media seats with tables next to me-of course, this is for the priority media.
The mixed interview area and press conference after the game also need to apply, but the probability of passing the media without the home team is also relatively low.
The treatment of photography colleagues is not much better.
Although the "pass" for the event has been obtained, the photographer still needs to choose a specific shooting location, which involves another round of queuing selection.
When it is the turn of Chinese photographers to choose, often only the center line position is left, which means that if a goal is scored, only the back of the player's head can be photographed.
embarrassing?
Although I have never encountered the embarrassing situation of being pointed at my nose and scolding "Why do you come to the World Cup without a home team" (according to my colleagues, I have indeed encountered it), but when I am recognized as a Japanese reporter, a Korean reporter, especially when Japan It is really embarrassing to be congratulated by other people when the team wins.
This year's World Cup is quite rich in Chinese elements. Except for the World Cup, we almost dug out all the elements related to China.
Event staff, volunteers, and fans from all over the world will praise the awesome Lusail Stadium built in China, the buses made in China are very comfortable, the souvenirs made in China have aroused people's frantic desire to buy, and the giant pandas that come from China are even more impressive. It makes people call it cute.
But when asked "How many Chinese players do you know", almost no foreign fans can answer.
A Saudi fan who knows a lot about Chinese sports said euphemistically, "But your Olympic performance is very good, especially in table tennis." Another Costa Rican fan was not so polite: "We can all enter the World Cup, You who are much bigger than our country should have a team!"
Whether it's a tactful comfort or a straightforward heartbreak, as a reporter I always feel a little embarrassed.
I believe that every Chinese reporter who comes to report on the World Cup is most eager to see the Chinese element is the national football team. When Chinese football rises, Chinese journalists will no longer be at the lowest end of the "chain of contempt", and will naturally be much less embarrassing.
(Finish)