DOHA: Is football – fandom, emotion, hope, disappointment, glory, and identity – the preserve of a select few, and only they get to decide who can partake in this global communion because they run the show, decide the TV times?
Football's version of the European refugee crisis, where boatloads of Africans were being turned back by the First World, you could say, is being played out at the World Cup here in Qatar. Among the many exposes and investigations carried out by sections of the western media, was the 'revelation' that the Qatari authorities had hired 'paid fans' to show support for the teams, and thus, depict a healthy following as the World Cup kick-off neared.
