- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
It seems there is no end to controversies surrounding the upcoming football world cup in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern nation to host the quadrennial tournament. After allegations of corruption and human rights violations, the host nation has now been accused of paying fake fans which it has vehemently denied.
It has been alleged that the host nation was paying the “fake fans” after a number of participating nations, including former champions England, received warm welcome from people in capital Doha ahead of the tournament which kicks off on Sunday (20).
Gareth Southgate waves to fans outside England’s team hotel. Several hundred welcomed the team in Al Wakrah 🏴 pic.twitter.com/qdV0xQpj84
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) November 15, 2022
The team of Gareth Southgate was welcomed at the team hotel on Tuesday (15) by several Indian expats from the southern state of Kerala, The Telegraph UK reported. Those who gathered to cheer the 1966 champions said they were genuine supporters of The Three Lions.
But when other expats were seen cheering teams such as Brazil and Argentina, social media was abuzz with speculation that there was something fishy. The Qatar Supreme Committee has slammed the suspicion of the state involvement behind these cheering supporters saying, “We thoroughly reject these assertions, which are both disappointing and unsurprising,” the Telegraph report added.
“Qatar, and the rest of the world, is comprised of a diverse range of football fans, many of whom share emotional connections with multiple nations,” it said.
“In different places around the world, fans have different traditions, different ways to celebrate, and while that may contrast with what people are used to in Europe or South America, it doesn’t mean the passion for football is any less authentic.
“With four days to go until the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 kicks off, anticipation and excitement is building in Qatar as we prepare to welcome the world. Fans from all over the world – many of whom have made Qatar their home – have contributed to the local atmosphere recently, organising fan walks and parades throughout the country, and welcoming the various national teams at their hotels.”
The fans have also hit back at the allegations. They said they bought match tickets and paid for the jerseys of their favourite teams on their own. The Indians have called the allegations that they had been paid for cheering teams “fully fake news”.
Forty-two-year-old Gireesh Edavana, a mechanical engineer from Kerala who lives in Doha, said there are several England supporters from Kerala in his supporters’ group alone.
“Most of us support England because we loved David Beckham when he was a player,” he was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
“It was him who made us England fans. We were really shocked when we saw the news that people were calling us fake fans. We don’t know where it came from.”
One of the supporters said football is as popular in Kerala as cricket and they didn’t take any money to cheer for England.
Similarly there are others who support either Brazil or Argentina because of some of the big names in those teams.
While England kick off their campaign against Iran on Monday (21), Argentina play their first game against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (22), and Brazil against Serbia on Thursday (24).
