FIFA World Cup 2022: A match-fixing claim ahead of the opening match on Sunday has shaken Qatar, which is hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022. The first match is scheduled to be played between the host country and Ecuador today.
However, ahead of the clash, Amjad Taha, a strategic political affairs expert, on Thursday claimed that Qatar has bribed eight Ecuadorian players $7.4 million to lose the opener. He further said that five Qatari and Ecadour insiders have confirmed this.
“Exclusive: Qatar bribed eight Ecuadorian players $7.4 million to lose the opener(1-0 2nd half). Five Qatari and #Ecadour insiders confirmed this. We hope it’s false. We hope sharing this will affect the outcome. The world should oppose FIFA corruption,” Taha said in a tweet on November 17.
While no one else has so far made or backed this serious allegation, Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said that this was fake news coming from “a well-known disinformation account”.
Qatar has already been facing massive criticism for its human rights violations, inhumane treatment of migrant workers constructing stadiums for sports, strict regulations – like no drinking and no revealing clothes in compliance with Islamic laws – for visitors, and inadequate facilities to accommodate lakhs of football fans.
Many fans who have landed in the country to watch Fifa have taken to social media platforms to complain about the harsh conditions in Qatar.
BBC’s Rhia Chohan in a tweet said they spent the night in a fan village near Lusail Stadium. “Guests slowly checking in to find they can’t buy drinking water without a wristband. It’s 30 degrees. Nearest shop an hour walk. No one knows where the wristbands are. We’re told the festival is meant to kick off at 6.30pm,” she said.
Israeli American writer Emily Schrader said that the Qatari officials were threatening to smash cameras of fans filming the harsh conditions inside the World Cup Fan Village. “You’d think after China and Russia they’d have learned not to hold major sporting events in dictatorships but hey, that’s FIFA for you! Qatari officials are threatening to smash cameras of fans filming the harsh conditions inside the World Cup Fan Village,” she wrote on Twitter.