Billions of F1 and football fans look to the Middle East

The opening ceremony of the Fifa World Cup 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. PA

Fireworks explode during the show. Getty Images

Mascots of former World Cups united. AP Photo

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim, centre, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, Jordan's King Abdullah II King of Jordan, left, and Fifa president Gianni Infantino, second right, at the opening ceremony. AFP

South Korean singer Jung Kook, centre, performs. AFP

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Ecuador at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha. AFP

Singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi performs. Getty Images

Performers welcomed the world during the opening ceremony. Reuters

A giant inflatable emblem during the opening ceremony of the Fifa World Cup 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor City. PA

Performers during the opening ceremony. PA

Morgan Freeman performs on stage. Getty Images

The performers opened the show. EPA

The Qatar World Cup opening ceremony. Reuters

Dancers performing together. PA

The opening ceremony before the Qatar versus Ecuador game. EPA

Former footballer Marcel Desailly holds the Fifa World Cup trophy ahead of the opening ceremony. AFP

A young Qatar supporter at the stadium. EPA

Ecuador fans in the stands before the opening ceremony of the Qatar World Cup. Reuters

A dancer performs at sunset before the Fifa World Cup kicks off with a Group A match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. PA

Fans record moments from the first match of Qatar 2022 inside the Al Bayt World Cup stadium. Reuters

Performers outside the Al Bayt Stadium entertain the crowds before the Fifa World Cup 2022 Group A opening match between Qatar and Ecuador kicks off. EPA

A Qatar fan wears his national colours outside the Al Bayt Stadium. Reuters

Fans arrive at the Al Bayt Stadium before the opening ceremony of the Qatar World Cup begins. Reuters

Qatar fans on rollerblades outside the Al Bayt Stadium. Reuters

Ecuador fans on their way to watch the opening match of the Qatar World Cup 2022. Reuters

A performer with a replica World Cup before the Fifa World Cup Group A match gets under way at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. PA

World-class sporting events tend to not overlap every year on the same weekend in the same part of the world. So for sports fans all over, especially local F1 and football enthusiasts, this weekend in the Middle East was particularly remarkable. Just as here in the UAE, fans eagerly awaited race day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, excitement was also building an hour’s flight time from the UAE, in Qatar, as all participating teams of the football World Cup arrived in Doha.

In the words of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Qatar hosting the Fifa World Cup is a “historic milestone for all Arabs”.

Indeed, the significance of this cultural moment is one for the record books; if sports fans weren’t watching the race, they caught the football fever. It is a matter of great prestige for the Arab world – which is home to millions of fans, and nations with no small number of football clubs – that the opportunity to display their best should arise. One tremendous positive outcome of these events is the accompanying travel.

A fan who visits one sports venue in a Gulf country is likely to fly over to a neighbouring one, with the short distance a good reason to see the sights, and experience the uniform hospitality and yet diverse culture and cuisine for which the entire region is famous. In doing so, a crucial and rare opportunity also presents itself: for the travelling fan to be pleasantly surprised when negative regional and cultural stereotypes are proved false. A benefit of tourism is that when preconceived assumptions don’t hold up to reality, it is often the truer experience that is carried back to home countries, enabling a virtuous cycle of more tourists, more business and fewer prejudiced impressions. With tourists likely to fly into the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, this is a chance for the Gulf to showcase itself.

That these world-class events are taking place “at home” is an important chapter in sporting and cultural history and a matter of undeniable pride for millons across the Middle East and North Africa. What is sometimes under-appreciated is the depth of footballing tradition that exists in the Mena region. Whether it is Arab ownership and funding to develop young talents at the grassroots level around the globe, or to rejuvenate world-renowned clubs in need of financial resources and leadership, the examples are numerous.

The national teams’ achievements on the pitch also deserve to be acknowledged, whether it is Egypt’s seven African Cup of Nations wins, or memorable performances from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the Asian Cup, the Olympics and the World Cup. These success stories have their origins in the robust club structures that are in place in several of these countries. Abu Dhabi emirate alone, for example, is home to five major clubs.

Finally, the Middle East has been home to some of the biggest football tournaments in recent years. The UAE, it is worth recalling, hosted the previous Asian Cup, in 2019. That the World Cup should take place now, in this neighbourhood, is the icing on the cake – indeed for Qatar, and for the broader Arab world.