Amid the numerous allegations and scandals that the Qatar World Cup has uprooted, there were serious allegations being made that there are paid fans that are organising rallies in Doha ahead of the World Cup.
World Cup Allegations:
With FIFA already on the hook for participating in scandalous activities as part of Qatar winning the World Cup bid, more allegations have surfaced. Qatar has been criticised by the media for the poor treatment of migrant workers that helped build the stadiums. Further allegations have come forward that there are paid fans conducting rallies and celebrations to drum up excitement for the World Cup.
CEO of the 2022 World Cup, Nasser Al Khater has dismissed these claims and suggested that a majority of those fans turned up from Kerala, a state in South India, who are known to be very passionate about football.
Speaking to media, Nasser Al Khater said, “They are mostly from the Indian community (in Qatar) and those from the south of India especially. I know that in Kerala, football is the number sport. Everyone thinks that cricket is the number one sport but football actually is the number one sport there.”
“We have a lot of genuine supporters in Qatar who are from the south of India. They love football and they are genuine fans. We know that they have tournaments that are professionally organised. They have sponsorships, they have a lot of support behind them, organised on a weekly basis and they are true fans of football.”
Hosts Qatar will make their first-ever World Cup appearance against Ecuador in the tournament curtain-raiser on November 20.
