abc.net.au/news/finding-what-is-real-in-the-2022-qatar-world-cup-oasis/101668200He's sitting on a pillow in a large Bedouin tent, his arms resting across his knees, his breezy linen sleeves rolled just above the elbow."I would love to hear about the cultural importance of the falcon," Beckham says in a gentle, rehearsed voice.
He chats with Abdulaziz, a local artist mentoring a new generation of women painters and designers; Achilles, a charismatic chef wearing a baseball cap indoors; Sheikha, the director of exhibitions at the National Museum; Saeed, a national motorcycle champion; Hamida, one of Qatar's first filmmakers; and Noora, a young woman footballer.
At one extreme end is Beckham's version — advertisements that highlight the most attractive, interesting, and glamorous parts of this tiny peninsula that has suddenly realised it is now one of the richest and most powerful kids in the schoolyard.Its pockets have been made heavy by newfound oil and gas reserves off the coast that it sells to the highest bidder, the revenue of which it has funnelled into a rapid infrastructure makeover.
It's complicated, then, to know how to think about Qatar; whose version of it to believe, whose standards we should use to judge it. There is World Cup branding everywhere — giant footballs, flags, sculptures and signs — especially around the city's central fan zone of Al Bidda Park; a garden the size of a suburb that will be the beating heart of the fan experience for the next month, filled with music festivals, beer gardens, food stalls, giant television screens and activity areas for young and old.
Taxis and Ubers are everywhere, interrupted every now and then by a World Cup-themed bus, as locals casually move about their lives. We're told the traffic around these areas will clear as they close the roads over the next few days.
giving all the gulf airlines free access to OZ is bizarre
ahhh this is new Qutar fud hurts doesn't it, abc a traditional family value-based society doing better than the immoral west
Funny this, when the author can dramatically change his/her views on a situation after accepting a free ticket to the event. All of a sudden it's 'lets see what side of Qatar is fake or real' Money talks I guess.
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