If it has been a $200 billion battle for regional bragging rights then Qatar will see the cost of the 2022 World Cup as money well spent.
Back in 2008 when Qatar were licking their wounds after a humiliating rejection by the IOC for Doha’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, the prospect of bidding for the World Cup instead was seized on as a face-saving exercise for a regime intent on beating their neighbours in the United Arab Emirates to the prestige of hosting one of the great sporting events.
The outcome could hardly have been better for Qatar. Even a dozen years of negative publicity over alleged corruption, human rights, treatment of migrant workers and laughable environment claims must seem worth it with
