FIFA World Cup 2022 kickstarted on Sunday with a grand opening ceremony. From Morgan Freeman’s touching opening act about inclusivity, and magnificent fireworks to BTS performing their original soundtrack, the ceremony exuded grandeur & is the latest talk of the town. Ever since the tournament has begun, events are unfolding at the speed of light! Thus, we are here to keep you up-to-date with the latest happenings in the World Cup.
Keep scrolling to know 5 latest FIFA World Cup updates happening in Qatar!
1. Qatar vs Ecuador
Post the opening ceremony shenanigans, the tournament began with the opening game between the host country & Ecuador. Ecuador stood victorious against Qatar as the former team scored 2 goals in the first half which also eventually secured their win. Whereas Qatar was unable to score even one goal, leaving the total score at 2-0.
Yesterday there were two games between England vs Iran & Senegal vs Netherlands wherein England won by scoring 6 goals and the Netherlands secured their win with 2 goals.
2. No ‘One Love Armbands For European Teams
England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland teams had written to FIFA in September, expressing their wish to wear rainbow or ‘one love’ armbands to protest Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ rights. However, in a joint statement today, the teams revealed that FIFA has clearly told them that it would impose sporting sanctions on them if their teams wear the armbands.
“As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games,” the statement read.
“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband. However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked of even forced to leave the field of play
“We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented — we wrote to FIFA in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response. Our players and coaches are disappointed — they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways,” it added.
3. Record Breaking FIFA Revenue
FIFA has earned a whopping $7.5 billion in revenue from the Qatar World Cup, breaking the organization’s previous revenue records. This number is also $1 billion more than what they gained from the previous 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Reports suggest that this increase in revenue is due to the commercial deals Qatar has pulled in related to the World Cup. In addition, according to Al Jazeerah, “Qatar Energy joined as a top-tier sponsor, and new third-tier sponsors include Qatari bank QNB and telecommunications firm Ooredoo. FIFA also added second-tier sponsor deals this year from financial platform crypto.com and blockchain provider Algorand, its first new American sponsor in more than a decade.”
4. No Coverage Of FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony On BBC
England’s leading broadcasting company, BBC, chose not to broadcast the opening ceremony on its main coverage program. Instead, it was broadcasted on its “second-tier streams” like BBC Sport, iPlayer App & its red button service. Fans were deprived of witnessing the opening ceremony including Morgan Freeman’s opening act and BTS’ performance.
BBC may have done this due to the human rights violations controversy Qatar is currently engulfed with. However, some netizens have been criticizing the broadcasting company for not covering the ceremony and having a biased stance when it comes to Qatar as compared to Russia.
“When Russia hosted the world cup in 2018, it had already annexed Crimea and occupied eastern Ukraine. At the time there was zero criticism of it from the BBC and the opening ceremony was shown in full. Yet the BBC chose today to sanctimoniously lecture to us. Disgraceful,” one user wrote.
5. England Encouraged To Use ‘Hair-Cutting’ Gestures As Goal Celebration In Their Match With Iran
Omid Djalil, a Brit-Iranian actor is of the opinion that players from the England team should use ‘hair-cutting’ gestures as a goal celebration, as a sign to show solidarity with the Iranian people, especially considering the ongoing political and religious unrest the country is currently plagued with.
To give you some context, a few months back, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini was killed in Iran for wearing her hijab ‘incorrectly.’ This incident sparked a massive protest throughout the country. People took to the streets and women started cutting their hair as a sign of protest.
Although this World Cup has many firsts, click here to read more, it is also quite unique. Qatar is currently surrounded by controversies, whether it be because of its stance on LGBTQ rights or its alleged mistreatment of migrant workers – there is a lot of talk in the media. However, one does wonder if the constant criticism of Qatar is overshadowing the real spirit of the game. What are your thoughts on this?
And that’s all for today’s FIFA updates. Watch this space for more!