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Gulf states are rallying behind Qatar as the controversy over its successful bid for the 2022 World Cup continues to grow with a new report on Sunday alleging that FIFA awarded the tournament to the Gulf kingdom despite an internal briefing showing that it was at “high risk” of a terrorist attack. The allegations are just the latest in a string of unflattering revelations about the bidding process for the high profile event which makes the Gulf Cooperation Council’s entry into the fray especially welcome for an embattled Doha.
Qatar had already been feeling the heat of the international spotlight following the outcry around its labor and immigration practices, what the Guardian notably referred to as a form of ‘modern-day slavery.’ Now, with the World Cup currently underway in Brazil — which has its fair share of controversy around its own hosting gig — Qatar is enduring a new wave of denunciations following the release of fresh allegations of bribery around its bid. According to a report earlier this month from Britain’s Sunday Times, Qatari officials paid a total of $5 million to FIFA members in order to gain the rights to host the 2022 tournament.
On Sunday, Doha issued its most robust defense thus far of its campaign for the tournament, denying the allegations while suggesting that it expected further “attacks” against its successful bid. This is, of course, in reference to talk that the country may be stripped of its World Cup hosting duties. Such an outcome would be a major blow to Qatar, which has pinned a great deal on the international stature that comes with the high-profile hosting gig.
The rallying cry from the GCC regional bloc is a bit of an unexpected development. Other Gulf states have long been wary of Qatar’s attempts to cultivate its international profile. The extreme manifestation of this campaign has been Qatar’s efforts to establish its own, independent foreign policy which culminated in the highly-visible diplomatic fracture between it and Riyadh. Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist organizations specifically represented the height of disloyalty to its Gulf brethren and it was duly ostracized by the regional bloc.
While relations have lately been warming up between Qatar and its neighbors, the vote of confidence from the GCC represents an assertion of Gulf unity that Qatar sorely needs at the moment. It’s unlikely that the GCC’s vote of confidence will have any concrete effect amid the ongoing FIFA investigation but it’s nonetheless symbolically important for Qatar to have the weight of its powerful regional allies behind it. It is also a pointed reminder to Qatar of the significance of its Gulf neighbors and their utility in helping to head off international censure — a point that simultaneously serves as a warning of the consequences of any future disloyalty.
