Eugenia Cattaneo

I heard about Qatar’s election for the 2011 Football World Cup through Twitter.  All my old friends from Qatar – country where I lived in 2005 –  started to post congratulations.  At the same time,  many European and American friends posted a lot of negative comments. Many of them in relation to the temperature which, it is true, is particularly high during the summer, but also related to alcohol, the treatment of women, and security.

Reading these short comments – 140 characters in twitter – I notice how, even if  we don’t knowthe culture of a country, in this case, Qatar, we were ready to judge. 

I started to reply to many of the comments, also, in 140 characters, which is not particularly easy. Some of my friend were really surprised at how wrong they had been. I´m sure the Qatar Press Office has hard work to do!.

Some people were worried about the violence on the streets. Violence on the streets? I don`t have numbers, but never, ever, have I heard that Qatar is a violent country. The war in Iraq, or Afghanistan, is very far from the peninsula of Qatar. I remember I could walk in the middle of the night without any risk  of being assaulted or robbed. I never felt more secure than walking in Doha, shopping on the little streets of Al Souq, or  walking in the beautiful  Al Corniche, along  the seashore.

Women can`t dress comfortably, can`t wear bikinis to go to the beach or wear mini-skirts. Definitely,in Arabic countries, women’s outfits usually cover the body, but foreign  women in Qatar can wear whatever they want. Of course, it is desirable not to wear provocative clothes like mini-skirts, to respect the Qatari culture . Is that a problem? I don´t remember missing my mini-skirts while I lived in Qatar. I also remember I used to wear a lot of beautiful clothes that I never could find in the West. I also used to combine my clothes with headscarves in beautiful colors, even if, certainly, I was not supposed expected  to use anything on my head.  And yes, women can wear bikinis on the beach, but on the authorized beaches. Someone said women are not allowed to go into the stadiums, that is not true. I also  would like to say, in many parts of the western world, women can`t go to the stadiums, or are allowed to go only to certain areas,  not because it is forbidden, but because of the violence.

The last thing that worried cyber-football fans was alcohol. Muslims can´t drink alcohol, and in Qatar, the sale of alcohol is restricted. Football without drink is not football, many people said. The Qatari organization said they would permit alcohol in certain areas for the fans during the World Cup.

I would like to talk about that point. Alcohol is permitted in Qatar, with restrictions, particularly in the international hotels.  But, even if it were not possible to drink alcohol, why is that a problem?  Alcohol is a problem in the West! Alcohol is a problem always mentioned in relation to accidents and  violence in football.  Families, children and many times, women, can´t go to the stadiums because of the violence! Why do we insist on exporting that part of our culture? Let’s try an event without alcohol, just to see what it is like.

In only five years, since I lived there, Doha City  has changed a lot. In these twelve years, until 2022,  many thing are going to change in the world. I hope one of these things will be our perceptions of the Arabic World. The World Cup is a challenge, and also, a big opportunity for both cultures to meet.

Certainly,  climate will not change and the Qatari hot summer will be a challenge for the organization, like snow could be for cold countries. For these problems, technology always has a solution.