Mn the heart of Doha, in the chic Msheireb Downtown district, the World Cup hosts have erected a large plastic wall on a car-free street to display their pride.
Wrapped in their respective national flags, the eleven football players who are something like Qatar’s secret national team are on display here: Navas – Mendez, Hakimi, Marquinhos – Soler, Sarabia, Vitinha, Pereira, Messi – Mbappé, Neymar.
One Costa Rican, one Moroccan, two Brazilians, three Portuguese, one French, two Spaniards and one Argentine. Eleven World Cup participants, playing for French club Paris St. Germain, bought with money from Qatar, which is available there in seemingly unlimited amounts.
Who is missing is Ronaldo, who is looking for a new employer, some Qatar friends may be disappointed that Nasser al-Khelaifi, the Qatari boss of PSG, is not there too. “I admire him. He’s a legend, one of the best footballers in history. But for us it’s difficult with the three players we have (Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé)” says al-Khelaifi. Even without Ronaldo, this national team from the emirate would be favorites if they were to compete in the World Cup final – no matter against whom.
Children marvel in front of the imposing picture wall, people take selfies, but it can also get scary at the sight of the footballers, who appear like a big game hunter’s trophy collection. With the most precious pieces in the center: Messi, Neymar, Mbappé.
Although Neymar was eliminated with Brazil on Friday night, there is a good chance that there will also be a world champion at the end of the tournament, but – and this is finally clear after three weeks in Doha: success is secondary.
In fact, the big game hunter analogy fits well. Slaying an animal with a superior weapon is as easy a challenge as signing every soccer player in the world you want with unlimited funds.
Show off instead of competition
This niche occupied by Paris St. Germain isn’t about competition, it’s about demonstrating what’s possible. The rulers of the emirate have built huge and beautiful stadiums that even the discerning visitor can admire. And they own the biggest stars through PSG. The message is: Qatar can do anything. Even Hakimi is there, the hero of Morocco, whose team sends a unifying impulse to the entire Arab world.
That PSG are still waiting to finally win the Champions League? It doesn’t matter. Of course, the handle pot would be nice, but the message that emanates from the Qatari self-importance is sobering: If you have already created a football world in which everything is possible with money, then we will use it with pleasure.
It’s a show of power, which is pretty sobering. Much has been said about corruption, human rights and exploited workers, but the idea of competition has long since suffered from the attitude with which the game is viewed by Qatar’s rulers.
Nevertheless, al-Khelaifi, a leading representative of this school of thought, is one of the most powerful officials at UEFA and is the head of the powerful club association ECA. It’s even more surprising than Messi, Neymar, Mbappé and the great stadiums that the Europeans are willing to do that.
