Qatar 2022: When the games end! -By Onochie Anibeze

Days into my coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 I repeatedly asked one question: ‘Why are the west against these people?

Why do they paint them so badly that you would think nothing good can come from here? I tried to imagine many things. I had visited the US many times before then. I had been to many European countries too.

However, what I was experiencing in Beijing amazed me. Skyscrapers, glass houses, 12, 14, 18 lane roads, flowers, shrubs, beautiful sceneries, some of which made many cities in Europe and America less fanciful.

I kept on imagining and wondering why China was made to look bad in the estimation of people who had not been there.

Even Chinese products which were rated lowly back home were of high quality. I bought things and saw for myself that the inferior materials from China were the making of our people who approached their factories to demand lower specifications simply to maximise profits.

The products in China were of high quality. The humility of the people and hospitality impressed. The only challenge I had in China was communication. Even those who worked in the stadium didn’t know the name of place in English. You needed to call stadium in Chinese.

A taxi driver I told I was going to the stadium first took me to University of Beijing. I shouted ‘stadium’ many times and after signalling that he understood me drove me to a warehouse near police headquarters.

I had to flag down a police patrol van for assistance. By the time we got to the stadium I had missed the event I was rushing to cover. It wasn’t funny. But Beijing and many Chinese cities were beautiful and I longed to return there for holidays.

However, the west painted them badly and even fought International Olympic Committee for awarding the games to them. China had human right issues but the attacks from the west went beyond those issues. Politics can paint misleading pictures and even perceptions of a people. It happened to China before the games.

I arrived here in Qatar for the ongoing World Cup and the things we read from the western media threw my mind back to Beijing Olympic games where same western media didn’t appreciate the beautiful things other visitors were experiencing. I had visited Qatar a couple of times before the games started on November 20. I knew they were ready to present the best facilities ever the world would see at the World Cup. I knew great spectacles awaited fans but I didn’t know that they would be in the dimension beholding us.

The main media centre where journalists from all over the world gather to send their reports is better seen than imagined or described. It is at the Qatar National Convention Centre located at the Education City. It is magnificent and wows all foreign journalists including those from US and Europe.

It is same with all facilities here. The hospitality suites in the stadiums are amazing, the warmth of the volunteers, the seamless operations and the near perfection of the organisers have not attracted the befitting banner headlines from the west. I asked the same question I posed in Beijing 14 years ago. Why are the west against Qatar? I got an answer from who should know. He is somebody sports has taken to all parts of the world and to many World Cup venues. Interestingly, the person works for football governing body, FIFA.

When someone in a sensitive position opens up to you and reveals some sensitive information the journalism profession demands that you protect that person by not divulging his identity especially if he so wishes. It is called protection of sources. And this guides me as I report his comments.

A friendly chat that brought out what he called the ‘bitter truth.’ Said he: “The west is against them because of envy, aside the fact that they are still angry that a small Arab country beat USA, Australia, Japan etc to win the hosting bid.

They have seen the facilities here and they know they could not have presented better facilities. It is envy. It is bitterness. You can see that in the last few days, as the event is winding up and the success story is manifesting they resumed the controversies on labour issues etc. They are still hurting.”

Fifa President, Gianni Infantino once described the attacks on Qatar as hypocritical, saying that many European countries once had similar challenges.

The World Cup ends on Sunday and the story of Qatar World Cup may not end soon. There are those who will paint stupendous pictures of a memorable World Cup and those who will continue telling the stories of immigrant workers long after we would have all left here. That’s life.