World Cup tit-bits from Qatar

COMMON SICKNESS

Qatar 2022 has been truly beautiful on the field of play. It has also been great off it.  But there has been a common bug that seems to have hit thousands of World Cup visitors who flew into Doha.

I have suffered cough and flu that has refused to go away since the very first week. I took antibiotics, administered by the doctor at the Main Media Centre at the Qatar National Convention Centre, and there was some improvement. But I am not at 100 per cent.

Daily Telegraph journalist Sam Wallace has spent most of the tournament ill while a few of the Ugandans who travelled to Qatar have also suffered with various symptoms.

PSG EVERYWHERE

PSG are owned by Qatar Sports Investments. The French champions are basically owned by the government of Qatar. So, as you stroll through the big malls in Doha such as City Centre and Villagio, you will encounter the club’s merchandise shops time and again.

Shirts, cups and plates with Mbappe, Neymar and Messi on them obviously attract the biggest sales. On Monday, I entered one PSG shop at Villagio Mall and was greeted by an attendant called Isaac who hails from Isingiro.

Other items sold in there are towels, key holders, tea flasks, casual trainers and shirts, replica shirts and glasses.

EZDAN OASIS

A group of friends and I are housed in an apartment in Ezdan Oasis. Apparently, this place was a bare place in the desert a few years ago but once Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup 11 years ago, a lot of construction started all over the country.

There have been various cluster flat apartments built in places like Barwa Madinatna and Baharat Al Janoub in Al Wakrah City. These projects are part of the legacy of the 2022 World Cup for these areas will house low-income workers when the World Cup is over.

The cluster estates have been designed with all amenities to make them conducive for occupants with their families.

REALITY SINKING IN

All good things do come to an end. And sooner rather than later, Qatar 2022 will be over. Actually on Sunday at around midnight, the World Cup will be done.

Stadiums like 974, the temporary one built out of containers, has been broken down while grounds at Al Janoub, Al Thumama, Education City and King Khalifa are now shut.

All temporary structures which had been erected to house media centres and host broadcasting machines have been disassembled. The droves of fans who made a glorious atmosphere in the first two weeks are all gone. Only a few of them are left to see through the last days of the biggest show on earth. It is a reality that is starting to sink in for the locals.

“I can’t believe it has run out so far,” said Ahmed Megraib, a security officer. For the locals who waited eleven years for Qatar 2022, one month has run down like a week. That is the World Cup for you!