The 2022 World Cup in Qatar begins, warts and all
DOHA, Qatar — The 2022 World Cup begins Sunday (11am ET kickoff) in Qatar with the host country's national soccer team taking on Ecuador.
In a world divided in so many ways, the tournament is a rare uniter. FIFA, soccer's international governing body, projects five billion people will tune in, again making the month-long event the most-watched-sports spectacle on the planet.
The start also signals the end of a 12-year buildup that's been more complicated and controversial, than perhaps any World Cup before.
Awarded to Qatar in 2010, the World Cup was born amidst bribery. That's according to officials from the U.S., which lost the bidding war at the end. Then the tournament was moved to November/December because of concerns about excessive heat in Qatar during the traditional June/July World Cup window. Then human rights groups began revealing the toll on migrant workers tasked with building the World Cup's infrastructure. And then concerns arose about potential mistreatment of LGBTQ fans in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
It's enough to make you want to sit down with a nice cold beer to stop your head from spinning.
As the football finally kicks off, the question for many is, how
