AL RAYYAN, Qatar — The building that explains this nation’s soccer history is surrounded by college campuses and shaped like a diamond, the immense space inside like an airplane hangar, only modern and open and yet somehow still crammed with over a million books. For now, though, the centerpiece display at the Qatar National Library in Education City isn’t Arab-Islamic science texts written in Latin in 1448, nor some of the first Arabic books ever printed.
No, as with all things in the region this month and next, the World Cup is the prominent display. And here, on the library’s ground floor, there is an exhibit that explains Qatar’s soccer ambitions, along with its small but growing place in the modern international game, along with what that means for all their aspirations, politics included.
Factoids abound near a soccer ball that resembles a tiny house, the one guarded by flags from all the participants in this tournament. One of the first-ever officiated matches here took place in Dukhan, in 1948, “under the supervision,” naturally, “of a petroleum company.” Soon after, the first Qatari football team, the Arab Union, formed, its roster fashioned from workers the petroleum company employed. By ’51, Qatar had created its first football championship.
as it’s titled, features black-and-white photos, and an old, oversized, brown leather ball that was long ago deemed useless, hand-stitched Maroons national team jerseys and retro boots. The exhibit details how “football” became central to schools here; how outsiders in a country that’s comprised of roughly 90% non-natives brought in experience and training techniques; notes on the first international match (1970), first World Cup qualifying match (‘77), first “taste of international success” (the ’92 Gulf Cup victory) and the most significant tournament victory to date (the Asian Cup final triumph, over Japan, in 2019).
Some of the literature is, shall we say, penned with creative license. Like the bit about the country’s status as one of only three in the world to host an annual day just for sports. Or the part that inflates its credentials for holding international tournaments, of which there have been some. That’s Qatar, though. True and true never stray far from each other.
True: Pelé and his Santos side did play here (1973). Maybe true? Pelé earned his first-ever yellow card in that match.
True: magazine and newspaper articles are displayed as part of the exhibit. Maybe true: the regime values, as it says, the journalists that cover soccer. If so, perhaps that’s because it tells them what to write.
Said to be true: “Qatar is looking forward, and more excited and enthusiastic than ever, to welcome guests from all over the world for an exceptional World Cup.” That’s a quote attributed to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, referred to as His Highness. But after 10 days on the ground here, it’s safe to say that government officials are not looking forward, nor are all that enthusiastic. The tournament, at least so far, has a long climb toward exceptional.
Even then the overall billing of the exhibit – , – holds. This is story.
