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The 2022 World Cup is here. The soccer will start on Sunday.
But everything having to do with the event that isn’t about sports feels like a disaster.
On Friday, we learned that there was a last-second change to the beer sales policy in Qatar — no longer can you buy cold ones outside stadiums, as was the decision months ago. Instead, alcohol will be sold at FIFA Fan Festivals and other “fan destinations.”
The big reason why that’s frightening, as we noted in our explainer about the change in policy: It feels like soccer’s governing body isn’t in charge here.
This followed up a clip that went viral earlier in the week showing a Dutch TV reporter in Doha who was threatened by some locals. There was an apology from the Qatar International Media Office and the Supreme Committee … but it was still alarming for the media who will be reporting from there.
All of this comes after the horrors surrounding how the stadiums were built for this event. As our Andrew Joseph wrote:
When FIFA awarded Qatar with the 2022 World Cup back in 2010, soccer’s governing body decided to hold a tournament in a country the size of Connecticut with virtually no stadium infrastructure.
That set off a mad dash to build eight world-class stadiums, and to do so, Qatar utilized an abusive “kafala” system with migrant workers that bordered on modern-day slavery. On top of that, a Guardian investigation estimated that 6,751 migrant workers died amid the dangerous conditions in Qatar.
And then there’s the Fyre Fest comparisons being made with the World Cup tent village.
What a disaster.
Quick hits: XFL Draft … An NFL “too small” taunt … and more.
— The XFL 3.0 Draft is over and some notable ex-NFL players got selected.
— Treylon Burks hit Jaire Alexander with a “too small” on Thursday. Ouch.
— Whew, this Jeremy Sochan dunk!
— Jalen Ramsey called out LeBron James for lying, just like everyone on Twitter.
