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The 'Fan Village' For The Qatar World Cup Is Being Compared To Fyre Fest—And We Can See Why
Fans who secured the more affordable accommodations at the Fan Village Cabins Free Zone for this year's World Cup held in Qatar were in for a rude awakening reminiscent of the 2017 Fyre Festival debacle.
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 event in Qatar, a country located in Western Asia, was already riddled with controversy before it kicked off on November 20 due to the country's horrendous reputation for human rights violations and corruption.
Thousands of migrant workers who worked 12 years to prepare for the tournament since its announcement in 2010 have died unexplainable deaths.
According to the Washington Post, human rights groups cited "lax oversight by soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, and abusive labor conditions in the host country,"
In protest, artists like Dua Lipa made it clear they would not be performing at the event.
An estimated 1.5 million fans who planned to attend the month-long tournament found it nearly impossible to find sufficient accommodation given the lack of hotels and affordable Airbnb options on the peninsula that is smaller than the size of Connecticut.
To accommodate wayward visitors, the Fan Village Cabins Free Zone was a solution.
However, the conditions in the village were very suspect.
\u201cThe horrifying experience #worldcup fans discovered when they checked into the Fan Village in #Qatar. For \u00a3175 a night, these tents are worst than most budget hotel\u2019s room! \n\nWith a budget of $220 billion spent on hosting the World Cup, I\u2019m sure the host can do a better job.\u201d— Alvin Foo (@Alvin Foo) 1669030658
The village–which was still under construction in some areas–was made up of a series of plastic portacabins in the desert that is roughly a 20-minute metro ride away from the sporting venue in the city of Doha.
Arriving visitors paying roughly $200 a night for a 29-day stay at the Village found the makeshift plastic chambers too hot–with only electric fans provided instead of air conditioning units.
\u201cWe spent the night in a fan village near Lusail Stadium. Guests slowly checking in to find they can\u2019t buy drinking water without a wristband. It\u2019s 30 degrees. Nearest shop an hour walk. No one knows where the wristbands are. We\u2019re told the festival is meant to kick off at 6.30pm\u201d— Rhia Chohan (@Rhia Chohan) 1668853213
\u201cBreakfast is served! \ud83c\uddf6\ud83c\udde6\n\nQatar World Cup fan village breakfast for all travelling fans. \n\n\ud83d\udcb7 Part of the \u00a3200 per night cost\u201d— Footy Scran (@Footy Scran) 1669017614
\u201cA cabin room in the Qatar World Cup fan village - a snip at only $207 a night (via @joshTAnoble) https://t.co/CMvdQsluLW\u201d— Matthew Garrahan (@Matthew Garrahan) 1668966996
\u201c- Must adhere to Qatari law (any alcohol, pork product, or displays of homosexuality result in imprisonment)\n- Fyre Festival-esque dingy tents\n- Stadiums built off slave labor\n- Journalists harassed\n- Accusations of Qatar bribing opponents to tank\n\nWORLD CUP 2022:\u201d— Unmistakable Latin Flavor (@Unmistakable Latin Flavor) 1668712279
Comparisons were drawn to the lodging conditions found at the Fyre music festival in the Bahamas, where those who paid top dollar to attend found scattered disaster relief tents; soaked mattresses from the previous day's rain; and cheese sandwiches in styrofoam containers as their "gourmet" meal option.
The Fyre Festival fiasco ended with its co-founder, con artist Billy McFarland, being sentenced to six years in prison for defrauding investors and ticket holders.
Social media users referred to the World Cup 2022 Fan Village as Fyre Festival 2.0.
\u201cThe fan village for the World Cup in Qatar is basically just Fyre Festival 2.0\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201cI love that on top of it being morally and ethically repugnant, we're also doing the world cup as a kind of big budget fyre festival sequel.\u201d— Elaine Scattermoon (@Elaine Scattermoon) 1668862797
\u201c@JoePompliano These are $200 per night. 6,000 soccer fans will be displeased. https://t.co/S59xQDJIqb\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano GL\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano This is what you get letting a country buy the right to host the World Cup. \nThis is like the Super Bowl when it was in Jacksonville. The city just didn\u2019t have the infrastructure to support such an event. Event accommodations were suspect, at best.\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano That's messed up. I was in 2018 WC hosted by Russia and didn't have crazy housing issues like Qatar is facing. I couldn't buy tickets for Qatar because there was literally no hotel rooms available.\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano Worst World Cup ever\u2026\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201cComparing this fiasco to Fyre Festival is unfair; Fyre Festival didn't kill several thousand migrant workers.\u201d— Jimmy Rushton (@Jimmy Rushton) 1668882021
Some chose to accentuate the positive.
\u201c@JoePompliano The accent piece on the front of the door is beautiful. Designer went above and beyond\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano At least the beds are put together \ud83d\udc4c\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano Could make for an absolutely epic rager imho\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
\u201c@JoePompliano The duct tape lattice detail on the 'front door' is a nice touch tho...shows an attempt :).\u201d— Joe Pompliano (@Joe Pompliano) 1668635220
Visitors hoping to take the edge off were also disappointed to learn about the country's tight alcohol restrictions.
Because booze is only served in licensed restaurants and bars, and the government tried to remove the already-constructed beer stands from the World Cup stadiums, officials scrambled to have "beer vans" available on the Village grounds authorized by the government
However, contractors told the UK Times:
"We have heard that the site still hasn't been granted an alcohol license for the World Cup. They said it was tied up in Doha."
"If there is no license, there will be no beer. There will be a lot of angry fans."