Institute: The UAE is deeply involved in inciting the World Cup in Qatar

The Washington Institute for Middle East Policy confirmed that the UAE is heavily involved in inciting the 2022 World Cup in the State of Qatar.

Simon Henderson, a fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Institute, said that for diplomats and analysts focused on Gulf affairs, even those who don’t normally watch football, the World Cup in Qatar is expected to offer an intriguing insight into the state of domestic politics when it kicks off on November 20.

It can be said that the most prominent match in regional terms is the one that brings together the United States and Iran on November 29. Still, the main question is whether the competition will be a win-win for Qatar or a disastrous and very public example of abuse.

This event comes after the diplomatic and trade embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt on Qatar in 2017-2021 against a long list of complaints, including relations with Iran. However, many tensions between the two sides go back generations and have been exacerbated by the different geological resources.

Qatar, a small country of nearly 300,000 people, has the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves—more than Saudi Arabia and the UAE and the scant hydrocarbon assets of neighbouring Bahrain. Complicating the picture is that most of the Qatari gas is located offshore in a giant field shared with Iran.

Competitive tensions on the soccer field may also be important, as the sport is watched obsessively by Gulf residents and in which their leaders are heavily invested.

In 2021, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bought the British Newcastle United team. The brother of Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed owns the Manchester City team. Emirates Airlines, which is based in Dubai, sponsors Arsenal.

These teams currently occupy the top three places in the English Premier League; In addition, Qatar owns the prominent French team, Paris Saint-Germain.

The rivalry between these clubs will only increase competitive tension during the World Cup, as many players from these clubs will play key roles in the national teams (Saudi Arabia and Qatar will appear in the tournament, along with Tunisia and Morocco).

The glow of this regional and global importance may fade. Qatar is already facing waves of mostly negative media coverage on many issues, including its treatment of the migrant workers who helped build the tournament’s infrastructure.

The exponential increase in the frequency of these incitement campaigns is notably due to historical rivals seizing the opportunity to target it rather than because Doha has committed abuses far worse than its neighbours.

However, hostile media coverage is prohibited under the agreement signed in 2021 that ended the Gulf rift. But it is widely assumed that the UAE and Bahrain – whom Riyadh forced to accept the truce – were behind the negative news.

Yet none of the Gulf states has an impeccable record of improving oppressive conditions for foreign construction workers. According to a November 11 article in the Financial Times, “NGOs and trade unions hope that Qatar’s reforms will have a ‘clear impact’ on the entire Gulf region with its exploitative labour practices…Saudi Arabia is the biggest fish, while the UAE is perhaps the most the Gulf states are intransigent in labour issues.