World Cup Diary | Day One

Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022, World Cup Diary is a daily podcast tracking the news, both on and off the pitch.

Day One: The Opening Ceremony and Qatar v Ecuador

From the moment Qatar was announced as the hosts of the 2022 World Cup, there has been an uneasy feeling about it. A country smaller than Northern Ireland, with next to no footballing heritage, hosting the biggest tournament of the globe's biggest game seems ludicrous. Would Northern Ireland be named as hosts? I cannot even see why they would ever even bid. And yet Northern Ireland is bigger, has a strong footballing heritage, and were far more able at the time of the bidding, in terms of facilities, weather, human rights and laws, to be able to run this tournament than Qatar.

The story of the games itself is far too big for one podcast, it might be far too big for a series. So, initially, these episodes, the World Cup Diaries, will feature my thoughts on these games, day-by-day. As much as mental notes for me, as they are a way to keep up for you.

The build-up to the opening ceremony was as lined with controversies, geopolitical face-saving and last-minute u-turns, as the rest of the preparations would have led you to expect. A Danish TV channel was confronted by what appeared to be local law enforcement – though the presenter acted with dignity in the face of oppression, they dismissed his press pass and threatened to “smash the camera.”

Three days before the tournament and the FIFA executives arrived to find their luxury World cup hotel was not finished. A 'last minute scramble' was taking place, a few more days of hard graft for the overworked and underpaid migrant workers.

There was more on that day as Jack Warner, disgraced former FIFA vice-president, lost an appeal against extradition. Still many more steps before we see him behind bars. But a reminder of the current state of the former members of the FIFA executive committee which is responsible for the location of this World Cup.

Two days before the tournament, beer sales at grounds were cancelled. Budweiser, who had paid a reported £60 million for the exclusive rights to sell beer at the tournament tweeted, “Well, this is awkward...” before deleting that tweet. But it is awkward, isn't it? I mean, literally everything about this tournament is awkward. Surely this was some kind of breach-of-contract? The decision was also announced jointly by FIFA and Qatar. Which seems odd, when the rationale for the decision must of, obviously to me, have come from Qatar. Perhaps they had a meeting and both wanted to speak first, started giggling and said, “no you go, no you, go, OK how about we count to three and we both speak?” and to their amazement the FIFA representative and the Qatari counterpart counted down from three – two days before the tournament – and both said: “Let's ban alcohol sales in the grounds”.

There is one place in grounds you can enjoy a pint – hospitality – prices start at £19,000 a ticket.

There was more that day, the Daily Mail had an exclusive from their chief sports writer Matt Hughes. There would be no water fountains in the official FIFA fan park. Conjured images of the documentary Woodstock 99 came flooding back to me, combined with the Fyre Festival looking facilities, it does make you wonder how bad this could get. One clear saving grace was the decision made five years after being awarded the bid, to hold the tournament in winter. A decision that has no-doubt saved some lives.

And still before a firework had exploded or a ball had been kicked, there were rumours of corruption. A “widely known” disinformation Twitter account of a British-Bahrini social media influencer – Amjad Taha, had a viral tweet suggesting the Ecuadorian players had been br...