THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

It's touted as the best and biggest FIFA World Cup of all time. Five billion viewers are expected to hook on to the opening ceremony, and tonnes of data, paper, and media space will add to the sponsors' delight.

- SUNIL YASH KALRA

Players are offered amenities that will put uber-luxury business lounges in the shadows. Under the shiny veneer, Qatar has been combating a huge, invisible war since 2010, when FIFA awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup.

Yesterday, barely 24 hours before the inauguration of the biggest sporting carnival in the world, the FIFA World Cup, the current FIFA President Gianni Infantino strongly defended Qatar and FIFA. In front of 400 journalists, Infantino said, "I think for what we Europeans have been doing for 3000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people."

GROUND REALITY STADIUM YES, FANS LET DOWN!

The sporting world's shock in 2010 is now a source of global pride for football. From a single stadium, Qatar boasts eight worldclass football stadiums. The sprawling stadium is the first air-conditioned sporting stadium for climate control in the sweltering heat of 37-40 degrees. Seats with barcode scanning, surveillance, and a multilingual help desk are convenient. However, hiring fake fans for team celebrations is their Achilles' heel. A group of 400 odd so Pakistani and Bangladeshi fans are hired to masquerade as fans of descending countries at the airport. Later, the media revealed that for 12 USD daily wages and three meals, migrant workers are engaged to welcome players as enthusiastic original fans. Real fans pay to attend such prestigious meetups.

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