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  • World Soccer

    Counting down to Qatar

    Mar 18, 2022 5 minutes
    Keir RADNEDGE
    THE INSIDER

    The phone call lasted around half an hour. On the other end of a line was a Scunthorpe United fan. Not any Scunthorpe United fan. This one was from Qatar and he was telling me a fantastical tale of how a little-known Gulf state with a population of less than three million wanted to stage the World Cup in 2022.

    This was some15 years ago, long before any awkward talk of kafala and workers’ conditions had ever drawn attention. Now, with the draw for the finals looming on April1, the most remarkable of World Cups is on the horizon.

    I had known Qatar from attending an international youth tournament in the mid1980s, plus its short-notice staging of the World Youth Cup in 1995 as late substitute for Nigeria. Back then it had only one city and Doha

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