By winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup, Qatar has put itself on the map. Soccer-crazed Americans mourning the death of their bid have dismissed ‘Katar’ or ‘Quatar’, misspellings of the country’s name that have started to trend on Twitter.
But for the Qataris, and perhaps the broader Middle East, the victory was a vindication for those sceptics who refused to believe that the global festival of football could be held in the scorching heat of the Gulf summer via air-conditioned pitches and fan zones.
Bringing the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time will translate into a surge in infrastructure activity in Qatar, as well as an intense scrutiny of the tiny state’s society and development.
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