By; Avery Oquinn
Winning the world cup is the biggest thing a soccer player can accomplish. The world cup starts with group play, where 8 groups of 4 teams compete for a spot in the knockout stage, where they get one step closer to winning the final. Over these couple of weeks, fans get to watch elite soccer players, from Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo, as thirty-two teams who qualified for the world cup bring their full dedication to the tournament. Each World Cup brings with it a new energy, with different teams making their marks in different years. The world cup happens once every 4 years. Making it like the Olympics but for exclusively soccer. It is one of the biggest worldwide events that brings fans from all over the world together due to their passion and love for the game. The tournament’s location changes every four years, as decided by the FIFA congressional body years prior to the event, to make sure that the host country has enough time to build the necessary stadiums to make the tournament a success. The 2022 FIFA world cup is being held in Qatar this year. There are some speculations about Qatar being allowed to host. Qatar has extremely strict laws and beliefs, and in order to host they agreed to accept and allow thing they normally would not allow in their country. But so far, they have not kept their word on that...
One thing Qatar has tried to do is ban any rainbow prints from their stadiums, going as far as throwing fans out of games for wearing rainbow gear. They do not agree with LGBTQ movements and the rainbow is the symbol of that. When I asked Lukas Power how he felt about these people being thrown out of games for expressing themselves he said, “ I think Qatar has a right to believe what they want to, but when they agreed to host this international tournament, they also agreed to accept and welcome everyone and adapt their rules and regulations for these fans who are traveling around the world to get there. They should not be allowed to treat fans like that or discriminate against them.” It has become a worldwide controversy debating whether or not Qatar should legally be allowed to do what they are doing to fans. This could also take a toll on the players; they have basically worked their whole lives to live this moment and Qatar won't even let them be who they are while watching the game. Qatar also banned alcohol in all their stadiums. There are many pros and cons to this. When I asked Adrianna Gill her pros of no alcohol in stadiums at the world cup she said, “I think Qatar has a right to keep that rule and it is safer for the players and fans, because soccer fans are already passionate enough about their teams and adding alcohol into the mix could make it dangerous and may cause things to get out of hand.” many people would agree with what she says. But to every pro there is always a con. So, when I asked another student the cons of banning alcohol at these stadiums they said, “It is smart for the safety of people there, but I think alcohol is also like a staple at sporting events like that, especially the world cup. And they only made the rule because of the laws in their country, they should not be allowed to host if they cannot adapt their rules for one of the biggest things that has ever happened to them.” Qatar also has extremely strict laws against many things that are normal in other nations, and it's understandable that these tourist and fans should respect their culture but somethings like rainbow patterns being banned seems like a bit of overkill. Do you think Qatar should have been allowed to host the 2022 FIFA world cup?
Winning the world cup is the biggest thing a soccer player can accomplish. The world cup starts with group play, where 8 groups of 4 teams compete for a spot in the knockout stage, where they get one step closer to winning the final. Over these couple of weeks, fans get to watch elite soccer players, from Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo, as thirty-two teams who qualified for the world cup bring their full dedication to the tournament. Each World Cup brings with it a new energy, with different teams making their marks in different years. The world cup happens once every 4 years. Making it like the Olympics but for exclusively soccer. It is one of the biggest worldwide events that brings fans from all over the world together due to their passion and love for the game. The tournament’s location changes every four years, as decided by the FIFA congressional body years prior to the event, to make sure that the host country has enough time to build the necessary stadiums to make the tournament a success. The 2022 FIFA world cup is being held in Qatar this year. There are some speculations about Qatar being allowed to host. Qatar has extremely strict laws and beliefs, and in order to host they agreed to accept and allow thing they normally would not allow in their country. But so far, they have not kept their word on that...
One thing Qatar has tried to do is ban any rainbow prints from their stadiums, going as far as throwing fans out of games for wearing rainbow gear. They do not agree with LGBTQ movements and the rainbow is the symbol of that. When I asked Lukas Power how he felt about these people being thrown out of games for expressing themselves he said, “ I think Qatar has a right to believe what they want to, but when they agreed to host this international tournament, they also agreed to accept and welcome everyone and adapt their rules and regulations for these fans who are traveling around the world to get there. They should not be allowed to treat fans like that or discriminate against them.” It has become a worldwide controversy debating whether or not Qatar should legally be allowed to do what they are doing to fans. This could also take a toll on the players; they have basically worked their whole lives to live this moment and Qatar won't even let them be who they are while watching the game. Qatar also banned alcohol in all their stadiums. There are many pros and cons to this. When I asked Adrianna Gill her pros of no alcohol in stadiums at the world cup she said, “I think Qatar has a right to keep that rule and it is safer for the players and fans, because soccer fans are already passionate enough about their teams and adding alcohol into the mix could make it dangerous and may cause things to get out of hand.” many people would agree with what she says. But to every pro there is always a con. So, when I asked another student the cons of banning alcohol at these stadiums they said, “It is smart for the safety of people there, but I think alcohol is also like a staple at sporting events like that, especially the world cup. And they only made the rule because of the laws in their country, they should not be allowed to host if they cannot adapt their rules for one of the biggest things that has ever happened to them.” Qatar also has extremely strict laws against many things that are normal in other nations, and it's understandable that these tourist and fans should respect their culture but somethings like rainbow patterns being banned seems like a bit of overkill. Do you think Qatar should have been allowed to host the 2022 FIFA world cup?
