Why World Cup will be a result for Middle East

THE 2022 World Cup in Qatar will rewrite the international community’s perception of the Middle East, a new book claims.

- David Maddox

It will show that the country is “open-minded, creative, passionate, curious, generous and kind”, sports journalist Ioannis Daras says.

In Qatar 2022: The World Cup Of Arabia, he adds the event will have a huge impact on the region. He writes that it “opens a rare window of opportunity to set the record straight and rehabilitate the Middle East’s much-abused reputation by taking to a world stage in full view of more than one billion people around the globe”.

After controversy over the decision to award the event to the Gulf state, which has come under fire for its human rights record, Mr Daras argues that it will serve to “establish a modernist legacy”.