Marred By Controversies, FIFA World Cup 2022 Begins Today

The biggest event in world football, the FIFA World Cup 2022 is set to begin from today with 32 nations vying for the glory. Hosts Qatar will be facing Ecuador in the opening match on Sunday following the opening ceremony.

According to reports, the original plan was for the opening ceremony to be held before Qatar’s first game on Monday, however, Qatar’s opening match was brought forward by a day.

The opening ceremony is set to take place at the 60,000 seater Al Bayt Stadium which is situated 40 kilometers North of Doha.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is yet to announce a full list of performers for the opening ceremony, but South Korean boy band BTS confirmed that Jungkook, a member of the band would perform a track titled ‘Dreamers’ at the ceremony.

When does the Opening Ceremony Start?

The Opening Ceremony is set to begin from 7.30 pm IST, after which the first match will be played.

Where to watch the FIFA World Cup 2022?

The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be broadcast on Sports18 and Sports18 HD TV in English, with them winning the official broadcasting rights of the tournament.

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With Qatar’s strict and regressive policies, the 2022 tournament has come under a lot of criticism, right from FIFA awarding of the orginising rights to the middle-east country, a decade ago.

It may be noted that Qatar did not have the infrastructure required to host a mega event like this and had to construct everything from stadiums to related facilities from scratch. Migrant labourers were brought in, mostly from Southeast Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

However, global human rights groups have highlighted the poor condition in which they had been forced to work and the alarming number of deaths during the construction works, which they claim to be in thousands.

Moreover, FIFA has also come under fire for the decision to hand Qatar the rights for this edition of the world cup, as well as President Gianni Infantino, whose subsequent comments have been deemed outright arrogant and dismissive of the problems at hand.

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