“Morocco’s qualification is very important. It’s a good dose of morale, not only for the Arab world, but for Africa, for the global south and for many countries that are probably tired of seeing the same countries always win at the World Cup. It won’t solve the region’s problems, but I think the symbolism is still important,” says Egyptian sociologist Amro Ali, researcher at the Free University of Berlin and professor at the American University in Cairo. Ali, who is currently in Casablanca, explains that the Moroccans are experiencing the fact of reaching the quarter-finals as a national pride, but also as a gesture for the entire Arab world. “When they hear my Egyptian accent they say: ‘We do it for all the Arabs!'” he tells ARA in a telephone conversation.
This is the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, which has made it possible to see “an unprecedented proportion of fans from the global south” in the stadiums, thanks to the ease of visas, says Ali. In this context, the classification of Morocco, sporting surprises such as the victory of Saudi Arabia against Argentina or the very fact that the World Cup is held in Qatar, are giving rise to a sense of transversal belonging among fans, regardless of their origin national A certain pan-Arabist movement which, according to Ali, recalls that of the Arab springs, “but smaller”. “It is pan-Arabism far from traditional, managed by the state and choreographed by the Arab regimes. This is pan-Arabism from the bottom up, like what we saw in the Arab Spring, but in a football match,” he says.
However, governments have also used the competition to align positions and make political gestures. Qatar and Saudi Arabia, for example, have been locked in a long diplomatic dispute for years over the Doha government’s alleged support for Islamist groups. The Saudi kingdom, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) severed relations with the Qatari government, and Riyadh led a four-year blockade against Qatar, which it did not lift until 2021. However, during the World Cup you could see the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and leader in fact of the country, Mohammed bin Salman, wearing a Qatari scarf during a match at Al-Bayt Stadium. And the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, with a Saudi flag around his neck.
An exhaust valve
Ali explains that “sports are always political” and that the World Cup is an ideological outlet for many Arabs. “In the absence of economic and political justice in their countries of origin, sports tend to fill the void. It’s not the best way, but it helps,” says the professor. At the same time, “although other political positions have been censored”, Arabs from all over the world have found in Qatar a space to express themselves politically with a certain freedom. They have been able to do it, moreover, in a “temporary” environment and different from what would happen in a Western country and where the Arab fans were immigrants, since Qatar is a Muslim country; and different from if they were on a work visa in a Gulf country, where a political stance could pose a danger. “It’s strange to see so many Arab fans together in a non-mediatized and uncontrolled space,” adds Ali.
This possibility of meaning has been seen especially in the majority support of Arab fans for the Palestinian cause. Although the Palestinian national team did not qualify for the championship, their flag has been ubiquitous at the World Cup and multiple pro-Palestine chants and statements from fans calling for “an end to the Israeli occupation” have been heard. Many fans have also boycotted Israeli television stations present at the World Cup. “Palestine is a moral issue and a common language that unites people, from Iraq to Morocco,” says Ali. However, some Arab governments, such as that of Morocco itself, that of Bahrain or that of the Emirates, have signed peace treaties with Israel (the Abraham Accords), which makes the political demonstrations of fans in favor of Palestine Among the citizens, concludes Ali, “no one took the Abraham Accords seriously, from Rabat to Baghdad. And the World Cup has shown it.”
