EVER SINCE Qatar was awarded the right tohost the FIFA world tournament — the first Arab, Muslim country to do so — the international discourse has been negative to the point that some people wanted to have the 2022 FIFA World Cup taken from Qatar and hosted elsewhere.Starting with coverage of controversial news about bribery and corruption, the narrative was that Qatar only won the right to host the tournament by illegal means.Although nothing has been proven to this effect, the international media has still been relentless in trying to portray the world cup hosts as unfit to host football’s biggest competition.Similarly, the media and political focus on the treatment of migrant workers has been pursued through an orientalist and Eurocentric lens, with the West claiming the moral high ground. It screams of double standards.However, Qatar has been firm that they will not compromise their values, culture and religion to appease a few people who claim moral superiority. When the Gulf state announced a few days to the start of the world cup that alcoholic drinks, especially beer, would not be allowed in stadiums but at fan parks, there was uproar in some western media outlets.Rwanda too has faced a similar campaign of hypocrisy and bias from Western media and activists who always throw around allegations of human rights and other accusations that they always fail to substantiate.Luckily for Rwanda, President Paul Kagame has not only instilled a sense of self-worth among Rwandans but also encouraged people to reject and call out such double standards.The stance by Qatar should be a reminder to everyone not to be bullied into abandoning their cherished values, culture and religious beliefs to appease a few people who think that what they believe in should supersede everything else.
