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Tag: International soccer

  • More Twitter workers flee after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum

    More Twitter workers flee after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum

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    Twitter continued to bleed engineers and other workers on Thursday, after new owner Elon Musk gave them a choice to pledge to “hardcore” work or resign with severance pay.

    Some took to Twitter to announce they were signing off after Musk’s deadline to make the pledge. A number of employees took to a private forum outside of the company’s messaging board to discuss their planned departure, asking questions about how it might jeopardize their U.S. visas or if they would get the promised severance pay, according to an employee fired earlier this week who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

    While it’s not clear how many of Twitter’s already-decimated staff took Musk up on his offer, the newest round of departures means the platform is continuing to lose workers just at it is gearing up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. one of the busiest events on Twitter that can overwhelm its systems if things go haywire.

    “To all the Tweeps who decided to make today your last day: thanks for being incredible teammates through the ups and downs. I can’t wait to see what you do next,” tweeted one employee, Esther Crawford, who is remaining at the company and has been working on the overhaul of the platform’s verification system.

    Since taking over Twitter less than three weeks ago, Musk has booted half of the company’s full-time staff of 7,500 and an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation and other crucial efforts. He fired top executives on his first day as Twitter’s owner, while others left voluntarily in the ensuing days. Earlier this week, he began firing a small group of engineers who took issue with him publicly or in the company’s internal Slack messaging system.

    Then overnight on Wednesday, Musk sent an email to the remaining staff at Twitter, saying that it is a software and servers company at its heart and he asked employees to decide by Thursday evening if they want to remain a part of the business.

    Musk wrote that employees “will need to be extremely hardcore” to build “a breakthrough Twitter 2.0” and that long hours at high intensity will be needed for success.

    But in a Thursday email, Musk backpedaled on his insistence that everyone work from the office. His initial rejection of remote work had alienated many employees who survived the layoffs.

    He softened his earlier tone in an email to employees, writing that “all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring you are making an excellent contribution.” Workers would also be expected to have “in-person meetings with your colleagues on a reasonable cadence, ideally weekly, but not less than once per month.”

    As of 7 p.m. Pacific Time, the No. 1 topic trending in the United States was “RIPTwitter” followed by the names of other social media platforms: “Tumblr,” “Mastodon” and “MySpace.”

    Twitter did not respond to a message seeking comment.

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  • World Cup draws attention to equal rights, including attire

    World Cup draws attention to equal rights, including attire

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    Official-looking flyers have circulated on social media describing cultural expectations for fans attending the World Cup in Qatar. Some include rules for women’s attire: Shoulders and knees must be covered.

    Problem is, it’s bogus.

    While the local organizing committee suggests that fans “respect the culture,” no one is expected to be detained or barred from games in Qatar because of clothing choices. But persistent rumors swirling around appropriate garb and modesty at soccer’s biggest tournament have also drawn attention to the country’s record on equality.

    Rothna Begum, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, has studied Qatar’s male guardianship rules and women’s rights in the conservative country.

    “There isn’t anyone is going to go around arresting you for this because there isn’t an official dress code,” Begum said. “There isn’t a compulsory dress code and you can’t get sanctioned for it. It’s just a social restriction, a social tradition.”

    The local organizing committee includes a section on cultural awareness in its fan guide.

    “People can generally wear their clothing of choice. Shoulders and knees should be covered when visiting public places like museums and other government buildings,” it said.

    The phrase “public places” is up to interpretation.

    The American Outlaws, the U.S. national team’s supporters’ group, produced its own fan guide.

    “Fans can wear shorts and short sleeve shirts, and women are not required to cover their heads or faces. However, there are many buildings that require both men and women to cover their shoulders and knees before entering, including museums, shopping centers, and some restaurants,” the guide says. “We recommend that fans carry some pants and/or a top with sleeves if they plan on entering any buildings, as they may be asked to put them on.

    “In the stadiums, men and women will be required to wear tops. People will not be permitted to go shirtless during matches or in public settings.”

    The first World Cup in the Middle East comes at a time when there is international attention on the treatment of women in Iran. The nation, which sits across the Persian Gulf from Qatar, has been rocked by anti-hijab protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while being held by morality police for allegedly violating the country’s compulsory dress code for women. Activists have called for Iran to be expelled from the World Cup.

    With Islam encouraging female modesty, most Qatari women wear headscarves and a loose cloak known as the abaya.

    Begum, who wrote about Qatar and its treatment of women in a 2021 report for Human Rights Watch, said that while women have made progress in Qatar, they still face discrimination in almost every facet of their lives. Women must get permission from male guardians to marry, pursue higher education and work at certain jobs. Guardians can bar women under 25 from traveling abroad.

    It’s a conservative culture that has little tolerance for dissent among its own citizens, she said.

    “There are no independent women’s rights organizations and that’s partly because the authorities have laws that make it difficult for you to set up associations that are in any way deemed political. You are not allowed,” Begum said. “Women find it difficult to express or demand their rights offline or even online.”

    That’s one of the reasons critics are questioning FIFA for awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. Observers certainly noticed when retired American soccer star Carli Lloyd wore a long, high-collared dress with long sleeves for the World Cup draw earlier this year.

    A letter recently circulated among teams from FIFA president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura asked nations not to bring political or ideological issues into the tournament.

    “Please,” they wrote, “let’s now focus on the football.”

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Culture clash? Conservative Qatar preps for World Cup party

    Culture clash? Conservative Qatar preps for World Cup party

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    On the Instagram accounts of fashion models and superstars last month, the sheikhdom of Qatar looked like one glittering party.

    High-heeled designers descended on exhibition openings and fashion shows in downtown Doha. Celebrities, including a prominent gay rights campaigner, snapped selfies on a pulsing dance floor.

    “As-salaam ’alykum Doha!” Dutch model Marpessa Hennink proclaimed on Instagram, using the traditional Muslim salutation.

    The backlash was swift. Qataris went online to vent their anger about what they called a dangerous and depraved revelry, saying it threatened Qatar’s traditional values ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Arabic hashtag, Stop the Destruction of Our Values, trended for days.

    The episode underscores the tensions tearing at Qatar, a conservative Muslim emirate that restricts alcohol, bans drugs and suppresses free speech, as it prepares to welcome possibly rowdy crowds for the first World Cup in the Middle East.

    “Our religion and customs prohibit indecent clothing and behavior,” Moheba Al Kheer, a Qatari citizen, said of the avant-garde artists and flamboyant models who mingled with Qatari socialites in late October. “It’s normal for us to worry when we see these kinds of people.”

    World Cup organizers say everyone is welcome during the tournament. Already, foreigners outnumber citizens 10 to one in Qatar. Some Qataris are liberal and open to mixing with foreigners. Many are thrilled about the tournament. But human rights groups have raised concerns over how police will deal with foreign fans’ violations of the Islamic laws criminalizing public drunkenness, sex outside of marriage and homosexuality.

    Qatar, a tiny Persian Gulf country that once was a dust-blown pearling port, transformed at almost warp-speed into an ultra-modern hub following its 1990s natural gas boom. Expats, including Western consultants and engineers and low-paid South Asian construction workers and cleaners, poured into the country.

    Glass-and-steel skyscrapers, luxury hotels and massive malls soon sprung up in the desert. In an effort to diversify away from a carbon-based economy, Qatar’s ruling family bought up stakes in things ranging from global finance and technology to the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain and London real estate.

    The ruling emir’s sister, Sheikha Al Mayassa Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, became one of the world’s most important art buyers. His mother, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, became a global style icon and bought several luxury brands, including Valentino.

    But even as Qatar, among the world’s wealthiest countries per capita, looked to the West for inspiration, it faced pressure from within to stay true to its Islamic heritage and Bedouin roots. Qatar’s most powerful clan originates from the Arabian Peninsula’s landlocked interior, where the ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism was born.

    Qatari rulers treaded the tightrope between placating its conservative citizens and tribes and shoring up soft power as a major global player.

    “Doha’s religious discourse to its citizens is very different from its liberal discourse to the West,” said 38-year-old Qatari Mohammed al-Kuwari. “It cannot always succeed at both.”

    The glaring spotlight of the World Cup — which requires Qatar to relax access to alcohol, create fun outlets for fans and comply with FIFA rules promoting tolerance and inclusion — raises the stakes.

    In years past, the World Cup has turned host countries into the world’s biggest party, with joyous crowds drinking heavily and celebrating together. When emotions run high, fans can be euphoric — or rude and violent.

    This will shake up quiet Qatar, where such behavior is deeply taboo and virtually unheard of. Doha is not known for its nightlife. Despite its rapid development over the years, its entertainment offerings remain slim and its public spaces limited.

    Some foreign fans fret about how Qatar will handle hordes of drunken hooligans in the streets, given the nation’s public decency laws and strict limits on the purchase and consumption of alcohol.

    Swearing and making offensive gestures, dressing immodestly and kissing in public may normally lead to prosecution in Qatar. Anti-gay sentiment runs deep in society, like elsewhere in the Arab world. A senior security official has warned rainbow flags may be confiscated to protect fans from being attacked for promoting gay rights.

    Fan anxiety is apparent in recent Reddit message boards: “How would the government know if someone is gay?” “How bad is it to wear short pants (Can I get arrested)?” “Is it true that people who say negative things about Qatar on social media get arrested?”

    At the same time, conservative Qataris fret about how much their society can bend to accommodate World Cup guests. Doha plans to throw giant electronic music festivals. Authorities say they’ll turn a blind eye to offenses like public intoxication, intervening only in response to destruction of property and threats to public safety.

    “I hope that the World Cup will not strip society of its religion, morals and customs,” said a 28-year-old Qatari man who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    He said he found comfort in a promise from the country’s advisory Shura Council last month that authorities will “ensure the building of a strong society that adheres to its religion” and reject “any excessive behavior” that breaks local taboos.

    But because the tournament fulfills the vision of the country’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to develop the country, experts say the tiny population of Qataris have little choice but to accept whatever comes.

    The emirate brooks no dissent. Qatar’s oil and gas wealth has generated a social contract where citizens benefit from a cradle-to-grave welfare state and political rights come after state paternalism.

    “If Qatar wants to be on the world map they have to adhere by global standards and values,” said Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor of security studies at King’s College London. “The government will stand its ground on certain issues, and the population will fall in line.”

    Al-Kuwari, the citizen, was blunter.

    “There is fear,” he said. “If a citizen thinks to criticize, a (prison) sentence awaits him.”

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    Follow Isabel DeBre on Twitter at www.twitter.com/isabeldebre.

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  • Messi scores as Argentina routs UAE 5-0 in World Cup warmup

    Messi scores as Argentina routs UAE 5-0 in World Cup warmup

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    ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Lionel Messi played the entire game in Argentina’s final World Cup warmup and scored in a 5-0 rout of the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday as the pre-tournament favorites stretched their unbeaten run to 36 games.

    Messi scored his team’s fourth goal right before the break, having also set up Julián Álvarez to open the scoring in the 17th minute. Angel di Maria scored twice in between.

    Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni made four changes at halftime but opted against resting his star player, leaving Messi on for the full 90 minutes.

    Inter Milan forward Joaquín Correa scored the visitors’ fifth goal on the hour mark.

    Argentina starts its World Cup tournament against Saudi Arabia on Nov. 22. It also faces Mexico and Poland in Group C.

    “We’re confident,” midfielder Rodrigo De Paul said. “But for many it will their first World Cup so the first game will be very important.”

    Earlier, Andrej Kramarić’s late goal was enough for Croatia to beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Riyadh.

    Croatia star Luka Modrić played only the last 25 minutes, enough to set up Kramarić for the winner in the 82nd. Kramarić still had to elude five Saudi defenders before scoring his 20th international goal inside the far post.

    Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić began with an unfamiliar lineup and gradually brought on his established players. Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovačić, Hoffenheim forward Kramarić, Tottenham midfielder Ivan Perišić and Real Madrid’s Modrić all came on in the second half.

    Saudi Arabia’s French coach Hervé Renard also made numerous second-half changes. His team has a tough task in Group C against Argentina, Mexico and Poland.

    Croatia is in Group F along with Belgium, Canada and Morocco.

    Germany was playing in Oman later, while Poland faced Chile for its last World Cup warmup. Mexico and Sweden were to play in Girona, Spain after that.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • AP PHOTOS: Soccer’s most memorable World Cup moments

    AP PHOTOS: Soccer’s most memorable World Cup moments

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    The Hand of God. Zidane’s headbutt. Gazza’s tears.

    Many of soccer’s most iconic moments have taken place at the World Cup, the latest edition of which starts in Qatar on Sunday.

    The Associated Press has covered the tournament through the years and followed the world’s greatest players, none more so than Diego Maradona and Pelé.

    Maradona, the Argentina superstar who died in 2020, was a figure of controversy — look at the way he punched the ball in the goal for his team’s opener against England in the quarterfinals in 1986 — but also a magician with the ball at his feet.

    Like his snaking run through England’s midfield and defense and then past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in the same game for perhaps the best World Cup goal.

    Pelé won the World Cup with Brazil for the first time as a lithe 17-year-old in 1958 and was 29 when he achieved the feat for a record third time in 1970. Fans lifted a grinning Pele onto their shoulders inside the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

    How about those other much-talked about moments, like Zinedine Zidane, France’s graceful playmaker, headbutting Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the chest in the 2006 final. Or Geoff Hurst’s shot that bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and over the line — or was it? — in the 1966 final as England beat West Germany for its only World Cup title. Or Paul Gascoigne welling up after collecting a yellow card in the 1990 semifinals that would have ruled him out of the title match, had England reached it.

    Then there are those famous goals in the final, by Germany’s Mario Götze in 2014, Spain’s Andres Iniesta in 2010, Brazil’s Ronaldo in 2002 and, much further back, Argentina’s Mario Kempes in 1978.

    It’s all about getting your hands on the World Cup trophy. Just look at the joy on the faces of Maradona in 1986, Zidane in 1998 and Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer in 1974.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Ronaldo ‘thrilled’ with Portugal’s new generation of players

    Ronaldo ‘thrilled’ with Portugal’s new generation of players

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    Cristiano Ronaldo walks on the pitch during a Portugal soccer team training in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Portugal will play Nigeria Thursday in a friendly match in Lisbon before departing to Qatar on Friday for the World Cup. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
    Cristiano Ronaldo walks on the pitch during a Portugal soccer team training in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Portugal will play Nigeria Thursday in a friendly match in Lisbon before departing to Qatar on Friday for the World Cup. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
    Cristiano Ronaldo walks on the pitch during a Portugal soccer team training in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Portugal will play Nigeria Thursday in a friendly match in Lisbon before departing to Qatar on Friday for the World Cup. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

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    Cristiano Ronaldo walks on the pitch during a Portugal soccer team training in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Portugal will play Nigeria Thursday in a friendly match in Lisbon before departing to Qatar on Friday for the World Cup. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

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    Cristiano Ronaldo walks on the pitch during a Portugal soccer team training in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Portugal will play Nigeria Thursday in a friendly match in Lisbon before departing to Qatar on Friday for the World Cup. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

    Cristiano Ronaldo knows a thing or two about World Cups. He has played in four of them and is about to make it to a record-tying fifth this month in Qatar.

    Ronaldo also knows when he sees something promising, and he believes this time there is reason to feel optimistic about the chances of a talented Portugal squad that mixes the right amount of experience and youth as it tries to win its first World Cup title.

    “The squad for this World Cup is a great mix of experienced players and young rising stars, and I hope we can show the world what this Portugal team is capable of at the very highest level of the world game,” Ronaldo told The Associated Press ahead of the launch of his inaugural NFT collection with cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance.

    The collection will be available Friday, just before the World Cup starts, and the bidding price for some of the collectibles related to the soccer star will begin at the equivalent of about $10,000. The NFTs will feature seven animated statues depicting Ronaldo from iconic moments in his life, ranging from bicycle-kick goals to his childhood in Portugal.

    Ronaldo often attracted most of the attention any time Portugal played, but this time he will enter the World Cup sharing some of the spotlight with a talented group of players that includes Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, João Félix and Rafael Leão.

    “I’ve been thrilled to see this generation of players thrive,” the 37-year-old Ronaldo said in emailed comments to the AP. “It’s hard to compare one generation with another. Everyone who plays for Portugal, whether in the past or today, has overcome so much to compete at the top level.”

    The only player older than Ronaldo in Portugal’s squad is veteran central defender Pepe, who will be playing in his fourth World Cup.

    Ronaldo, the all-time leading scorer in men’s international soccer with 117 goals, helped Portugal win the European Championship in 2016 and the inaugural edition of the Nations League in 2019, but he is still missing soccer’s biggest prize.

    Portugal’s best result in the tournament with Ronaldo playing came in 2006 in Germany, when the team reached the semifinals. Portugal didn’t make it past the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

    “Of course we’re there to win and I believe we have the squad to do it,” Ronaldo said. “But then there are a number of top teams out there with world-class talent — so we have to stay focused, stay humble, and go out there and show what we can do. The rest will follow.”

    Ronaldo endured a letdown at the club level for the first time in his career this season, not getting as many minutes as expected with Manchester United. He has dismissed the possibility that this will be his last tournament with Portugal, but said soccer will be just fine after he and 35-year-old Lionel Messi — who could also be making his last World Cup appearance with Argentina — retire from the international stage.

    “There have always been and there always will be rising stars at the top level,” Ronaldo said. “I have no doubt that the World Cup will unveil the next generation of talent ready to change the game.”

    Portugal will plays it’s opening match at this year’s World Cup against Ghana on Nov. 24. Uruguay and South Korea are also in Group H..

    ___

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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    Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni

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  • World Cup prize money disparity is an obstacle to Equal Pay

    World Cup prize money disparity is an obstacle to Equal Pay

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    World Cup prize money continues to be a sticking point for equality in soccer, despite the historic equal pay agreement between U.S. Soccer and its men’s and women’s teams.

    Earlier this year, the U.S. national teams decided to split prize money, which means that the haul from playing in the sport’s most prestigious tournaments will be distributed equally between players for both teams — after the federation takes a cut off the top.

    It was a landmark agreement, hailed as an important step for equality even beyond sports. But other nations haven’t followed suit.

    At the heart of the matter is the huge disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s tournaments — and how it is eventually passed on by federations to their players.

    FIFA has earmarked $440 million in prize money for this year’s men’s World Cup. The winner in Qatar will take home $42 million.

    The U.S. women won $4 million from a $30 million pot at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has proposed doubling the prize money for the 2023 event, but the field has expanded from 24 to 32 teams.

    That could change. FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura recently suggested that the final prize money total for the women could be greater.

    “Today, the men’s World Cup is the one that is funding all the FIFA competitions, including the Women’s World Cup. But we have seen new trends in terms of revenues,” she said at an event in Sydney.

    Some countries — including Australia, Ireland, Brazil, Norway and others — have made significant strides toward equal match and appearance fees, but an equal division of pooled World Cup prize money hasn’t been part of those deals.

    Brazil announced equal pay for its men’s and women’s teams in 2020 but the agreement pays the women a “proportionately equal” amount — or the same percentage — of World Cup prize money.

    In July, Spain’s federation also agreed to give its female players a percentage of bonuses equal to the men’s side, as well as earnings from sponsorships, image rights and improved working conditions. It did not reveal specifics.

    Lisa Delpy Neirotti, associate professor of Sport Management at George Washington University, said there is a three-pronged approach for equal pay: Public sentiment has to be for it, the women have to be unified in their demands, and the players needs allies, as in the case of the U.S. men’s team.

    That might be a tough ask in countries like France and Germany, both successful World Cup nations, because the men’s team would give up a lucrative payday. France, which won $38 million for winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia, distributed $11 million between the 23 players on the squad.

    In contrast, the U.S. women have been more successful than the men, winning the last two World Cups. The U.S. men failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

    “If the (U.S.) women continue to do better than the men, it’s not really hurting the men. Even though the men get more, the women can actually contribute just as much if they keep going,” Neirotti said. “But it’s not always the same economics in other countries — those other countries where the men go further in the tournament and thus generate a larger prize pool. So obviously the economics of coupling that with women would probably be more significantly hurting the men than the women.”

    Players like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn tirelessly campaigned for pay equity, spurring chants of “Equal Pay” at the World Cup final three years ago in France and gaining public support. Then the women worked with the men’s union to forge an agreement, securing both sides a larger share of the overall prize money after the federation’s stake.

    U.S. Soccer will take 10% of the money awarded to each team, then split the rest among the players on the two teams’ World Cup rosters.

    For the 2026 and 2027 tournaments, the USSF will take 20% and split the rest in a similar manner.

    Australia, which co-hosts the 2023 Women’s World Cup, has instead called on FIFA to equalize the prize pools. The Socceroos, as they’re known, will get a cut of the prize money if the team advances to the knockout round. But the federation also has plans to put the windfall into a second-tier women’s league and a national women’s competition.

    Canada’s men, currently in contentious contract talks with the federation, have asked for 40% of World Cup prize money, a friends and family travel package and an “equitable structure with our women’s national team that shares the same player match fees, percentage of prize money earned at our respective FIFA World Cups and the development of a women’s domestic league.”

    Canada’s women have said they do not consider an equal percentage of prize money as equal pay.

    “Canada Soccer has been engaged in ongoing discussions with our National Teams, which are and have always been anchored on our values of fairness and pay equity — addressing previously unbalanced standards. That means dollars, not percentages,” Canada Soccer said in a statement. The federation says there has been progress in the negotiations.

    For now, at least while FIFA’s disparities in prize money exist, getting men’s teams on board is what it will likely take for women’s teams to win equal pay, said Gina Antoniello, clinical assistant professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies.

    “So how can we get that allyship? Because it’s the right thing to do. Because women’s rights are human rights,” Antoniello said. “It is, I think, a little bit of a delicate balance, to collaborate, but not be pandered to.”

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Qatar at World Cup pinnacle after years of Mideast turmoil

    Qatar at World Cup pinnacle after years of Mideast turmoil

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Hosting the World Cup marks a pinnacle in Qatar’s efforts to rise out of the shadow of its larger neighbors in the wider Middle East, where its politics and its upstart ambitions have brought both international attention and regional ire.

    The road to the tournament — and Qatar’s increased prominence on the global stage — has been fueled by the country becoming one of the top exporters of natural gas. That newfound wealth built the stadiums that fans will fill for the tournament, created the Arab world’s most recognized news network, Al Jazeera, and enabled Doha’s diplomatic outreach to the wider world.

    But that rise has not been without intrigue. A palace coup in 1995 installed a more assertive ruler in the country, who used Qatar’s wealth to back the Islamists who emerged stronger amid the 2011 Arab Spring protests — the same figures his fellow Gulf Arab leaders viewed as threats to their rule. A yearslong boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations that began in 2017 nearly sparked a war.

    And while the overt tensions have eased in the region, Qatar likely hopes the World Cup will serve to boost its standing as it balances its relations abroad to hedge against any danger to the country in the future.

    “They know there are these potential threats; they know they are very vulnerable,” said Gerd Nonneman, a professor of international relations and Gulf Arab studies at Georgetown University in Qatar. “Anything they can do to have an international network of if not allies, at least a sympathetic element, they will.”

    Qatar, a little larger than Jamaica or just smaller than the U.S. state of Connecticut, is a peninsular nation that sticks out into the Persian Gulf like a thumb. It shares just a 60-kilometers (37-mile) border with Saudi Arabia, a nation 185 times larger, and sits just across the Gulf from Iran.

    Through its sovereign wealth fund, Qatar owns London’s famed Harrods department store, Paris Saint-Germain soccer club and billions of dollars in real estate in New York City. That wealth comes from its sales of liquified natural gas through an offshore field it shares with Iran, most of it going to Asian nations such as China, India, Japan and South Korea.

    That spigot of wealth began flowing in 1997, just after two major events that shook Qatar. The first, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent 1991 Gulf War, saw Doha and other Gulf Arab nations realize the need for long-term American military presence as a hedge, said Kristian Ulrichsen, a research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute.

    Qatar built its massive Al-Udeid Air Base, which is home to some 8,000 American troops and the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command today.

    The second event that shook Qatar took place in 1995, when Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani seized power in a bloodless coup from his father who was in Switzerland. Sheikh Hamad later put down a 1996 coup attempt by his cousin.

    Under Sheikh Hamad and flush with cash, Qatar created Al Jazeera, the satellite news channel that became known worldwide for airing statements from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The U.S. railed against the channel after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, though it provided the Arab world something beyond tepid state-controlled television for the first time.

    In December 2010, Qatar won its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Just two weeks later, a Tunisian fruit seller set himself on fire in protest and ultimately died of his burns — lighting the fuse for what became the 2011 Arab Spring.

    For Qatar, it marked a crucial moment. The country double-downed on its support of Islamists across the region, including Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood who would be elected president in Egypt after the fall of the longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Doha poured money into Syrian groups opposing the rule of Bashar Assad — with some funding going to those that America later described as extremists, like the Islamic State group.

    Qatar long has denied funding extremists, though it does maintain relations with the Palestinian militant group Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip, working as an interlocutor with Israel. But analysts say there was a recognition that things may have moved too fast.

    “They realize they stuck out their necks too far too soon … and they began to re-calibrate that,” Nonneman said.

    The Arab Spring soon chilled into a winter. A counterrevolution in Egypt supported by other Gulf Arab states saw the installation of military general turned President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July 2013.

    A little over a week earlier, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Sheikh Hamad’s son, took over as ruler in Qatar in the ruling family’s own acknowledgment that a generational change was needed.

    Gulf Arab countries, however, remained angry. A 2014 dispute over Qatar’s support of Islamists saw Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates withdraw their ambassadors — only to bring them back eight months later.

    But in 2017 after then-President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, those three nations and Egypt began a yearslong boycott of Qatar, closing off air traffic and severing economic ties even as construction on the stadiums continued.

    Things grew so tense that Kuwait’s late ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who at the time mediated the dispute, suggested that “military action” at one point was a possibility, without elaborating.

    The dispute ended as President Joe Biden stood poised to take office, though regional tensions remain. Still, Qatar has found itself hosting negotiations between American officials and the Taliban, as well as assisting the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Russia’s war on Ukraine has seen European leaders come to Doha, hopeful for additional natural gas.

    “They are at the center of attention again,” Ulrichsen said. “It gives them a seat at the table when there’s decisions being taken.”

    ———

    Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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  • Bentancur’s late brace eases pressure on Spurs coach Conte

    Bentancur’s late brace eases pressure on Spurs coach Conte

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    LONDON — Rodrigo Bentancur struck twice late on as Tottenham came back from behind three times to beat Leeds on Saturday.

    A thrilling 4-3 win in the Premier League may have seen Spurs manager Antonio Conte avoid uncomfortable questions heading into the World Cup — but it required a late rescue act from Bentancur.

    The Uruguay midfielder leveled to make it 3-3 in the 81st minute before hitting the winner two minutes later.

    It meant Rodrigo’s double and Crysencio Summerville’s opener for Leeds counted for nothing after Spurs’ fightback.

    Conte has endured a difficult period as the World Cup has approached, with recent home losses for Tottenham to Liverpool and Newcastle, and exiting the League Cup in midweek at the hands of Nottingham Forest.

    It didn’t look like getting any better for the Italian as Summerville put Leeds ahead in the 10th minute.

    Tottenham equalized 15 minutes later when Ivan Perisic’s cross was punched by Illan Meslier to Harry Kane, who fired home his 13th goal of the season.

    Rodrigo put Leeds ahead again two minutes before halftime when volleying Rasmus Kristensen’s header past Hugo Lloris.

    Tottenham was level six minutes after the break.

    Dejan Kulusevski got in behind the Leeds defense and found Kane, who saw a shot blocked by Kristensen. Ben Davies was first to follow up and, while Kristensen got in front of his effort, he could only divert the ball onto Meslier and it rolled over the line.

    Rodrigo fired in his second in the 76th after controlling Marc Roca’s pass and drilling into the corner beyond Lloris to make it 3-2.

    Spurs responded quickly with Bentancur chested down on the edge of the area and firing through a number of players into the back of the net.

    The winner came when Kulusevski dribbled past Robin Koch and was able to draw Meslier out of his goal. He then squared for Bentancur to slot home his fifth goal of the campaign.

    Leeds’ Tyler Adams was sent off for a second yellow card late on to round off a dramatic clash.

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup

    ———

    James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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  • Injured Son leads South Korea’s World Cup squad for Qatar

    Injured Son leads South Korea’s World Cup squad for Qatar

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    SEOUL, South Korea — In a surprise to no one, Tottenham forward Son Heung-min is headlining South Korea’s squad for the third straight World Cup as coach Paulo Bento places his hopes on his superstar striker who is recovering from a fractured eye socket.

    Bento also selected Napoli defender Kim Min-jae and Mallorca attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in but left out speedy Ulsan Hyundai winger Um Won-sang when he named his 26-player roster Saturday for the tournament in Qatar.

    Son, who has scored 35 goals in 104 internationals, hasn’t played since Nov. 2 when he sustained a fracture around his left eye following a collision with Marseille’s Chancel Mbemba while playing for Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League.

    While recovering from surgery, Son said this week that he expects to play in Qatar with a protective mask, reassuring fans on Instagram that he wouldn’t “miss this for the world.”

    But there are concerns whether he would be able to display something close to his top form following the injury-related layoff, after Bento spent years carefully building his offense around Son’s speed, two-footed shooting reflexes and dead-ball accuracy.

    At a media conference in Seoul, Bento said it remains unclear when Son would be able to resume training with the national team, saying his condition was being analyzed day-by-day.

    Separate from the 26 players officially on his roster, Bento is also taking Suwon Samsung forward Oh Hyeon-gyu as an emergency reserve who could step in if Son or other injured players aren’t fit enough to play.

    “The most important (thing) is he recovers as well as possible, feels comfortable,” Bento said of Son.

    Son won the Premier League’s Golden Boot last season after sharing the scoring lead in English ’s top flight, strengthening his case as the country’s greatest player ever.

    Before Son’s injury, some analysts had considered Bento’s squad as the strongest team South Korea has ever assembled, at least on paper, with Son being supported by several players in their 20s and 30s getting regular minutes in European .

    Still, even if Son is healthy, South Korea is seen as an outsider to get out of Group H, which contains Uruguay, Portugal and Ghana.

    Son isn’t the only injured player on Bento’s roster. Kim Jin-su, who has been Bento’s first choice at left fullback, is dealing with a hamstring injury. Kim’s fitness is crucial as Bento relies heavily on his fullbacks to provide width to the attack, although the space they leave behind has created defensive problems South Korea has struggled to fix.

    Qatar marks South Korea’s 11th appearance at the World Cup and its 10th straight. The country has reached the knockout rounds only twice — making the semifinals at home in 2002, and the last 16 in the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

    South Korea breezed through Asian qualifying but has looked underwhelming in recent friendlies, including Friday’s laborious 1-0 win over Iceland at home. That match came at the cost of defender Park Ji-su, who sustained an ankle injury that left him out of the World Cup squad.

    With Son recovering from an injury, the pressure is on other attackers such as Wolverhampton winger Hwang Hee-chan and Jeonbuk Hyundai forward Cho Gue-sung to step up.

    Despite the team’s defensive problems, Bento at least has a solid center back pairing in veteran Kim Young-gwon and Napoli star Kim Min-jae, who brings a rare combination of size, speed and strength to the team.

    ———

    South Korea

    Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Al Shabab), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), Song Bum-keun (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

    Defenders: Kim Min-jae (Napoli), Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan Hyundai), Kwon Kyung-won (Gamba Osaka), Cho Yu-min (Daejeon HanaCitizen), Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) ,Yoon Jong-gyu (FC Seoul), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) ,Hong Chul (Daegu FC)

    Midfielders: Jung Woo-young (Al Sadd), Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos), Lee Jae-sung (1.FSV Mainz), Kwon Chang-hoon (Gimcheon Sangmu), Jeong Woo-yeong (SC Freiburg), Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhamton), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul), Song Min-kyu (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

    Forwards: Hwang Ui-jo (Olympiacos), Cho Gue-sung (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup

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  • Europe’s World Cup stranglehold tested by Brazil, Argentina

    Europe’s World Cup stranglehold tested by Brazil, Argentina

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    When Gianni Infantino told a gathering of European soccer officials in Vienna he hoped the winner of the World Cup came from their continent, the FIFA President quickly stated — with a smile — he adapts the comment to whichever region he’s in.

    It’s no laughing matter for the rest of the world.

    Seven of the last eight World Cup finalists have come from Europe. Thirteen of the last 16 semifinalists, too.

    Only three non-European nations — Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay — have reached the World Cup final. Uruguay hasn’t played in the title match since 1950.

    And only two non-European nations other than Brazil and Argentina have reached the semifinals since 1970 — South Korea in 2002 and Uruguay in 2010.

    No African country has ever gotten to the last four — in part because of Luis Suárez’s last-minute, goal-line handball for Uruguay to deny Ghana in the 2010 quarterfinals — and nobody from North America since the United States in the first World Cup in 1930.

    Nations from around the world are invited to the party but, really, it’s mostly the Europeans staying until the end.

    “You want the World Cup to be a world tournament,” soccer author Jonathan Wilson said. “Ideally you’d have a team from every confederation in the quarterfinals.

    “You want the best teams, but you want the best teams to come from as many different places as possible. This is a global sport. If it becomes entirely focused on a rich pocket of western Europe, that’s boring for everybody.”

    Wilson puts the recent European dominance down to the continent’s top soccer nations pumping lots of money and resources into the development of young players — what he calls an “industrialization of youth production,” starting with France at its national soccer center in the 1990s. That was followed by the likes of Germany, Spain and most recently England doing the same.

    These young players are then exposed to their own soccer leagues, which are the strongest and richest in the world.

    “You have the best facilities, the best teachers, the best people to learn from,” Wilson told The Associated Press. “Then you are testing yourself against the best.”

    The only nation to have prevented a European triumph at a World Cup since 1994 was Brazil in 2002. Brazil’s coach that year, Luiz Felipe Scolari, said he had a “spectacular generation” — remember its storied front three of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho? — and that European nations are now producing better players than before, having studied the 1958 Brazil team which earned the country the first of its record five titles.

    Speaking to the AP, Scolari said the current European domination is a “phase” which could be ended by Brazil in Qatar or, maybe, in 2026.

    After all, Brazil will enter the World Cup as the top-ranked team, undefeated in South American qualifying and with only five losses in 76 matches under coach Tite.

    “This class of 2022 is great,” Scolari said. “If we don’t win now, we can do it in 2026 with one of the best teams.

    “These kids playing now might give the result we expect but you can’t pressure them to give everything. Maybe in four years we can because then … they will hit the pinnacle at age 26, 27.”

    Typically, it’s Argentina, ranked No. 3 by FIFA and a two-time World Cup champion, rivaling Brazil as the most likely winner from outside Europe. And that should again be the case in Qatar.

    While Europe’s best have been struggling — England is winless in six games, France and Germany have won only one of their last six games, Italy hasn’t even qualified — Argentina has gone 35 games unbeaten under Lionel Scaloni, who has a well-balanced team with more than just a slew of star attackers led by Lionel Messi.

    There’s a caveat, though. The introduction of UEFA’s Nations League — and, to a certain extent, the impact of COVID-19 — has meant top European teams go head-to-head more often and rarely face Brazil and Argentina.

    Only one such game stands out since the 2018 World Cup: the Finalissima, a newly devised match between the European champions and Copa America winners that saw Argentina beat Italy 3-0 in London in June.

    Argentina has played three European teams since the last World Cup. Brazil only one.

    “It’s pretty hard to get a true read on them,” said Wilson, whose books include “Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina.” “It might not be the worst thing that they go into this tournament with confidence, without a sense of inferiority.”

    Take away Brazil and Argentina, and it’s hard to look beyond another winner from Europe, which has the other 10 teams in the top 12 of the FIFA rankings and 13 of the 32 nations in Qatar.

    There’s even greater depth to the European challenge these days, too, with nations like 2018 World Cup finalist Croatia, Euro 2020 semifinalist Denmark and Switzerland as consistent and hard to beat as the traditional heavyweights, with more of their players sprinkled around Europe’s top clubs.

    As for African teams, whose World Cup challenge is fronted by African Cup of Nations champion Senegal, they still seem to be held back by a lack of resources off the field more than a lack of talent on it.

    “(African countries) have so many players playing in Europe at good teams now, I think they should perform better than they do,” Lars Lagerback, who coached Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup, told the AP. “There’s a lot of challenges, so many people involved around the logistics and everything.

    “They have the players with the individual skills but you have to have everything around it.”

    And that, ultimately, is where Europe has the edge.

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

    ———

    Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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  • Germany taking Moukoko, 17, to World Cup; Reus misses out

    Germany taking Moukoko, 17, to World Cup; Reus misses out

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    BERLIN — Germany is taking 17-year-old striker Youssoufa Moukoko to the World Cup though Borussia Dortmund teammates Marco Reus and Mats Hummels have missed out.

    Coach Hansi Flick named his 26-man squad for Qatar on Thursday, rewarding Moukoko for scoring six goals and setting up four more in 13 Bundesliga appearances this season. Moukoko is the youngest player to clock 10 career Bundesliga goals. Last season, he became the youngest player to appear in the league.

    “Youssoufa gives the team a lot. He’s fast, he’s lively. We’re looking forward to him,” Flick said.

    Werder Bremen forward Nicklas Füllkrug was another surprise callup, filling a gap left by Timo Werner’s injury. Füllkrug has 10 goals in 13 Bundesliga games this season.

    Before Flick named his squad, he referred to the human rights situation in Qatar and recent homophobic comments made by former Qatar player Khalid Salman, a World Cup ambassador.

    “It leaves us speechless, stunned,” Flick said of the comments. “It just happened in the last few days. It’s extremely important on one hand that we as the DFB (German soccer federation) and the players clearly focus on the sports, yes, but of course we also have to address what the human rights situation is like in Qatar. We’ll have to keep our eyes and ears open there.”

    Flick said there was no question of just concentrating on the soccer and ignoring all the other issues, that it was the team’s “job” to address them.

    “We don’t want to duck away, but we want to draw attention to the abuses when they happen,” Flick said. “We still have leverage when we’re there and that’s why I think it’s quite clear that we do that, too. That’s what the DFB stands for and that’s what the team stands for. A few players have already addressed it, so I think we’re on the right track.”

    Reus is missing out on a major tournament yet again. The Dortmund captain has struggled to recover from an ankle injury in September during the Ruhr derby win over Schalke. Reus made two brief appearances since but complained of increased pain last weekend.

    Reus missed Germany’s World Cup win in 2014 with an ankle injury sustained in a warmup game, and a groin injury ruled him out of the 2016 European Championship. He played in Germany’s unsuccessful World Cup defense in 2018 but skipped the next European Championship to recover after his season with Dortmund.

    “It hurts us all,” Flick said of Reus’ absence.

    Hummels has played well this season, but he is also susceptible to injury and Flick evidently had doubts about whether the center back could deal with the rigors of a month-long tournament.

    “We decided to give a younger player a chance,” Flick said.

    Bayern Munich players again have prominent roles within the squad – goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and midfielders Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Thomas Müller will be expected to bring their experience to bear.

    Mario Götze, who scored the World Cup-winning goal in the final against Argentina in 2014, is back in the squad after a long absence. Götze has returned to top form since his Bundesliga return at Eintracht Frankfurt.

    “If you look at his last games, they were at a high level,” Flick said. “He’s a brilliant footballer and a great person.”

    Germany has a final World Cup warmup on Tuesday against Oman in Muscat. Its tournament begins against Japan in Doha on Nov. 23. Four days later, it faces Spain in Al Khor, where it also plays its last game in Group E against Costa Rica on Dec. 1.

    ———

    Germany:

    Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)

    Defenders: Thilo Kehrer (West Ham), David Raum (Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Niklas Süle (Borussia Dortmund), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Lukas Klostermann (Leipzig), Christian Günter (Freiburg), Armell Bella Kotchap (Southampton)

    Midfielders: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), İlkay Gündoğan (Manchester City), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Mario Götze (Eintracht Frankfurt), Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Chelsea)

    Forwards: Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich), Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen), Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund)

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Senegal forward Sadio Mané a doubt for World Cup with injury

    Senegal forward Sadio Mané a doubt for World Cup with injury

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    Senegal forward Sadio Mané is in doubt for the World Cup after Bayern Munich said Wednesday he would miss the last league game before the tournament with a leg injury.

    Bayern said the two-time African player of the year had an injury to the head of the fibula bone in his lower right leg. Bayern didn’t specify how serious the injury might be, saying only that Mané would not be available to play Schalke on Saturday.

    “Further examinations will follow in the coming days. FC Bayern is also in contact with the medical staff of the Senegalese Football Association,” Bayern said in a statement.

    Mané was in clear discomfort after a blow to the right leg early in Bayern’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on Tuesday and was substituted in the 20th minute.

    Mané scored the winning penalty to beat Egypt in a shootout in the final of the African Cup of Nations in February. He joined Bayern from Liverpool in June in a deal which could end up being worth 41 million euros ($41.3 million), depending on performance-related bonuses.

    Senegal plays its opening match the World Cup on Nov. 21 against the Netherlands in Group A. Host nation Qatar and Ecuador are also in the group.

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • World Cup ambassador from Qatar denounces homosexuality

    World Cup ambassador from Qatar denounces homosexuality

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    BERLIN — An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a “damage in the mind” in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF only two weeks before the opening of the soccer tournament in the Gulf state, highlighting concerns about the conservative country’s treatment of gays and lesbians.

    Former Qatari national team player Khalid Salman told a German reporter in an interview that being gay is “haram,” or forbidden in Arabic, and that he has a problem with children seeing gay people.

    Excerpts of the television interview were shown Monday on the ZDF news program Heute Journal. The full interview, which is part of a documentary, will be shown Tuesday on ZDF.

    About 1.2 million international visitors are expected in Qatar for the tournament, which has faced criticism and skepticism ever since the gas-rich emirate was selected as host by FIFA in December 2010. Concerns about LGBTQ tourists attending the World Cup have also been expressed for a long time.

    In the interview, Salman also said that homosexuality “is a spiritual harm.”

    “During the World Cup, many things will come here to the country. Let’s talk about gays,” Salman said in English, which is simultaneously dubbed into German in the TV segment. “The most important thing is, everybody will accept that they come here. But they will have to accept our rules.”

    The interview was cut short by a media officer of the World Cup organizing committee after Salman expressed his views on homosexuals, ZDF reported.

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • African soccer still trying to fulfil promise at World Cup

    African soccer still trying to fulfil promise at World Cup

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    CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Henri Mouyebe slaps green, red and yellow paint on his bald head and big, bare belly before every Cameroon soccer game. He’s been transforming his hefty frame into a living, moving Cameroon flag for 40 years in support of his team.

    He will take his paint, and a huge dollop of hope, to this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

    “We are going there as conquerors, as winners, to play seven matches, play until the end of the tournament,” Mouyebe said, forecasting Cameroon will go all the way to the World Cup final.

    Eternal optimism.

    Sadly for Mouyebe, it’s most likely misguided given Cameroon’s recent World Cup record. The Indomitable Lions have won only one game at the last five World Cups they’ve played in and nothing suggests they’ll be walking out at Lusail Stadium on Dec. 18 to compete for soccer’s biggest prize.

    In an African context, Cameroon’s struggles are significant because it was the country, the team, that did shake the world of soccer 32 years ago by beating defending champion Argentina — a team that had Diego Maradona — on the way to the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Nearly the semifinals, but for an extra-time loss to England.

    Africa had arrived, everyone said. Pele declared an African triumph at the World Cup was imminent. Seven World Cups and more than 30 years later, no African team has gone any further than Cameroon did by reaching the quarterfinals. Cameroon hasn’t been anywhere near that again.

    “You have to be realistic,” former Tunisia coach Youssef Zouaoui said of Africa’s hopes of having a historic World Cup in Qatar with a semifinalist, or even better, this time. “The ambition is legitimate, but the reality on the ground is something else.”

    That reality for World Cup-bound Tunisia, Zouaoui said, is the country’s best players, driven by the economics of world soccer, play for European clubs, which often trumps their commitments to their country. The same economics have slowly drained Tunisia’s domestic soccer so that it is now in dire straits financially.

    How do you then build better stadiums, better leagues, better national teams to match the demands of a continent of 1.3 billion, where soccer runs deeper than any other sport?

    Those basic drawbacks can be applied to all five African teams going to this year’s World Cup — Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco and Tunisia — even if they are unique teams that aren’t defined just by being African. It’s not just an African problem, nor is it new. Rich European clubs also draw players and focus from South America, Asia and elsewhere, and have done for years.

    But in Africa, the Confederation of African Football, the body that runs soccer on the continent, has been seen as the biggest failure of all.

    CAF hit a new low since the last World Cup when FIFA, the sport’s main governing body, sent its secretary general to run the African organization for six months in 2019, an unprecedented move to take over an independent continental confederation. It was necessary, FIFA said, because of the organizational and financial mess that CAF was in.

    FIFA didn’t stop there. Last year, FIFA president Gianni Infantino brokered a deal to ensure his favored candidate, South African mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, was elected unopposed as the new president of CAF. Motsepe has been flanked by Infantino at almost every official function since.

    FIFA’s outsized influence in CAF over the last three years has prompted a new wave of criticism of a body that has been troubled for a lot longer, and surely does need saving. But Infantino’s interest, the critics say, is more likely Africa’s 54 votes, soccer’s second-largest continental voting bloc behind Europe, ahead of the FIFA presidential election next year in Rwanda.

    “Having 54 countries and one particular confederation at his beck and call just increases his leverage,” African soccer analyst Francis Gaitho said, also saving some blame for African soccer leaders who he believes are complicit.

    African soccer’s decision-making has now been “outsourced to Europe,” Gaitho said, just like its best talent.

    Amid the politics, CAF is nearly bankrupt, reported a $44.6 million net loss last year and somehow bungled a $1 billion, 10-year sponsorship deal in the early days of FIFA’s influence in 2019 that would have represented the biggest single investment in African soccer and might have gone some way to solving the myriad of problems.

    “There’s always a correlation between bad governance and the teams and results,” Gaitho warned. “I will tell people to manage their expectations and not expect too much from Africa.”

    Hope remains, mostly this time with Senegal, spearheaded by Sadio Mané and a team that has managed in recent years to rise above Africa’s issues.

    Elsewhere, they’re calling for help. Ghana held two separate days of national prayer, one for Christians and one for Muslims, last month for its team, which was also a much-celebrated quarterfinalist 12 years ago but will now be the lowest-ranked team at this year’s World Cup.

    At 67, Mouyebe is old enough to remember vividly his country’s magical run in 1990. Maybe it’s what has given him the energy to still paint his entire body, head to toe, for the last 20 years without seeing Cameroon win once at the World Cup.

    “The wish of all Africans is that performances like that of 1990 become normal,” said Jules Onana, who played on that Cameroon team at the 1990 World Cup. “Rather than being a feat without a future.”

    ———

    Associated Press writers Isifu Wirfengla in Yaounde, Cameroon, Francis Kokutse in Accra, Ghana, and Bouazza ben Bouazza in Tunis, Tunisia, contributed to this report.

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • EXPLAINER: Qatar’s vast wealth helps it host FIFA World Cup

    EXPLAINER: Qatar’s vast wealth helps it host FIFA World Cup

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar is home to some 2.9 million people, but only a small fraction — around one in 10 — are Qatari citizens. They enjoy massive wealth and benefits fueled by Qatar’s shared control of one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.

    The tiny country on the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula juts out into the Persian Gulf. There lies the North Field, the world’s largest underwater gas field, which Qatar shares with Iran. The gas field holds approximately 10% of the world’s known natural gas reserves.​

    Oil and gas have made the 50-year-old country fantastically wealthy and influential. In a matter of decades, Qatar’s roughly 300,000 citizens have been pulled from the hard livelihood of fishing and pearl diving.

    The country is now an international transit hub with a profitable national airline, a force behind the influential Al Jazeera news network and is paying for the expansion of the largest U.S. military base in the Mideast.

    Here’s a look at Qatar’s economy and how this tiny country was able to spend so much to host the FIFA World Cup:

    QATAR’S ECONOMIC STRENGTH

    For most of its existence, the tribes of Qatar relied on pearl diving and fishing for survival. Like other parts of the Gulf, it was a harsh and bare existence. The discovery of oil and gas in the mid-20th century changed life in the Arabian Peninsula forever.

    While much of the world grapples with recession and inflation, Qatar and other Gulf Arab energy producers are reaping the benefits of high energy prices. The International Monetary Fund expects Qatar’s economy to grow by about 3.4% this year.

    Despite a massive spending spree to prepare for the World Cup, the country still earned more than it spent last year, giving it a cushy surplus that is continuing into 2022. Qatar’s riches are likely to grow as it expands capacity to be able to export more natural gas by 2025.

    Its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, manages and invests the country’s financial reserves.

    QATAR’S WORLD CUP SPENDING

    Qatar has spent some $200 billion on infrastructure and other development projects since winning the bid to host the five-week long World Cup, according to official statements and a report from Deloitte.

    Around $6.5 billion of that was spent on building eight stadiums for the tournament, including the Al Janoub stadium designed by the late acclaimed architect Zaha Hadid.

    Billions were also spent to build a metro line, new airport, roads and other infrastructure ahead of the matches.

    The London-based research firm Capital Economics said ticket sales suggest that around 1.5 million tourists will visit Qatar for the World Cup. If each visitor stayed for 10 days and spent $500 a day, spending per visitor would amount to $5,000, the research firm said. That could amount to a $7.5 billion boost to Qatar’s economy this year. However, some fans may fly in just for the matches while staying in nearby Dubai and elsewhere.

    QATAR’S LAVISH BENEFITS

    Like other rich petro-states in the Gulf, Qatar is not a democracy. Decisions are made by the ruling Al Thani family and its chose advisors. Citizens have little say in their country’s major policy decisions.

    The government, however, provides citizens with vast perks that have helped to ensure continued loyalty and support. Qatari citizens enjoy tax-free incomes, high-paying government jobs, free health care, free higher education, financial support for newlyweds, housing support, generous subsidies that cover utility bills and plush retirement benefits.

    The country’s citizens rely on laborers from other countries to fill jobs in the service sector, such as drivers and nannies, and to do the tough construction work that built modern-day Qatar.

    QATAR’S MIGRANT LABOR FORCE

    The country has faced intense scrutiny for its labor laws and treatment of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, mostly from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other South Asian countries. These men live in shared rooms on labor camps and work throughout the long summer months, with just a few hours of midday respite. They often go years without seeing their families back home.

    The work is often dangerous, with Amnesty International saying dozens may have died from apparent heat stroke.

    Rights groups have credited Qatar with improving its labor laws, such as by adopting a minimum monthly wage of around $275 in 2020, and for dismantling the “kafala” system that had prevented workers from changing jobs or leaving the country without the consent of their employers.

    Human Rights Watch, however has urged Qatar to improve compensation for migrant workers who suffered injury, death and wage theft while working on World Cup-related projects.

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    Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ayaelb.

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  • England’s coach encourages gay soccer players to come out

    England’s coach encourages gay soccer players to come out

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    ROME (AP) — England coach Gareth Southgate hopes that gay soccer players “come out soon” because “it would have an enormous impact on society,” he said in an interview with an Italian newspaper published on Saturday.

    “The teams and players wouldn’t have any problem with it,” Southgate told La Repubblica ahead of this month’s World Cup in Qatar. “They would accept and embrace their teammates after a coming out. But footballers are afraid of the reactions outside and from the fans.

    “I experienced it with Thomas Hitzlsperger at Aston Villa: I didn’t think he was gay and when he announced it, it was something completely normal,” he said of the former Germany international, who came out as gay after he retired from playing.

    Southgate and Hitzlsperger were teammates at Villa in the early 2000s.

    “European teams have never been as tolerant, multicultural and multi-religious as they are today,” Southgate said in comments that were published in Italian. “Of course there will always be homophobes on the outside. But I hope gay players come out soon because it would have an enormous impact on society.”

    Gay rights have become an issue for the World Cup since same-sex relations are criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation.

    England will wear the “OneLove” anti-discrimination captain’s armband at the World Cup.

    At least 10 European nations committed to promote inclusion and campaign against discrimination this season and eight of them have qualified for Qatar.

    Southgate was asked if the armband initiative will be enough to raise awareness about human rights issues in Qatar, with the treatment of migrant workers who built venues for the World Cup a decade-long controversy.

    “We need to be realists about the goals we want to achieve,” the coach said. “I’ve been to Qatar three times and all the workers have told me clearly that they want the World Cup because it’s a vehicle for change.

    “We need to respect a country with a different culture, religion and traditions. But at the same time we have the responsibility and the possibility to shed light on aspects that can be improved. That could make a big difference.”

    England plays Iran in its opening match in Qatar on Nov. 21 before also facing the United States and Wales in Group B.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Qatar: No ‘white elephant’ legacy for World Cup stadiums

    Qatar: No ‘white elephant’ legacy for World Cup stadiums

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    One of the World Cup stadiums in Qatar is named after the Persian Gulf country’s international dialing code — 974 — and another is called “Education City.” They’re unusual names that hardly sound like they have links to soccer, and after the tournament many no longer will.

    Qatar built seven of its eight lavish World Cup stadiums and heavily renovated another. The smallest World Cup host nation since Switzerland in 1954, Qatar has a population of 2.6 million, with only 360,000 Qatari citizens, and a limited domestic league.

    So it’s questionable it needs so many large venues after the tournament, especially after the past three World Cups — in South Africa, Brazil and Russia — exposed several stadiums without long-term use.

    At least Stadium 974 in Ras Abu Aboud won’t become a white elephant, since it will disappear. The 40,000-seat arena located port-side just east of Doha was made from recycled shipping containers — 974 of them. The demountable, energy-efficient stadium will make way for a waterfront business development.

    But many other stadiums won’t host any more soccer beyond this tournament and next summer’s Asian Cup — for which Qatar won hosting rights after host China withdrew citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Only two top-tier teams from the Qatar Stars League — Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah — will play in their glitzy World Cup stadiums.

    The majority of this World Cup’s venues will have their capacity diminished from 40,000 to 20,000 post-tournament as part of a sustainability drive. Education City is 13 kilometers (8 miles) from Doha. Half the seats will go and the venue will be used by 8,000 students across nine universities and eleven schools.

    What happens those extra 20,000 seats, then?

    ”(They) will be offered to countries who need sporting infrastructure,” Ali Al Dosari, the stadium’s director of installations, said in a press release. “This will allow the culture of soccer to be promoted and to a greater extent the love of sport throughout the world.”

    Qatar pledged to give 170,000 removed seats to developing countries.

    With its gold facade and 80,000 capacity, Qatar’s gleaming Lusail Stadium hosts 10 matches, including the final. It’s only 20 kilometers (12.2 miles) from Doha, but no club will call this gleaming vessel home. In keeping with sustainable development, its future lies as a community hub with housing units, shops, schools, cafes and medical clinics. The upper-tier will become outdoor terracing for new homes.

    A similar fate awaits the tent-shaped Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor City, a 60,000-seater hosting the opener between Qatar and Ecuador on Nov. 20 and soon after an eagerly anticipated tussle between England and the United States.

    The plan is for the upper tier is to be removed after the tournament, allowing for further recommissioning of seats. A five-star hotel and a shopping center will be incorporated into the stadium building, and a sports medicine hospital will open.

    Good use of existing infrastructure, no doubt, but hardly leaving a soccer legacy behind. For example, the four extra stadiums built for the 2016 European Championship in France — Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux and Nice — are being used by those club teams for the long term.

    Al Thumama Stadium is another 40,000-seater located close to the center of Doha whose capacity will be halved. The arena will then be used for soccer and other sporting events, although it is not yet clear which. A sports clinic and a hotel will open on site.

    CARRY ON PLAYING

    The 40,000-capacity Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, located 20 kilometers (12.2 miles) west of Doha in Umm Al Afaei, is home to Al Rayyan in the 12-team QSL; and to second-tier Al-Kharitiyath Sports Club.

    The 40,000-seater Al Janoub Stadium, meanwhile, is where France begins its title defense against Australia on Nov. 22.

    Al Wakrah will carry on playing matches here in the QSL after the tournament with a reduced capacity of 20,000 — a low attendance for a top-flight team compared to major European and South American leagues.

    Khalifa International Stadium near central Doha dates from 1976 and was extensively renovated to hold 40,000 fans. The oft-used stadium has held the Arabian Gulf Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the track and field world championships.

    “The Khalifa Stadium will continue to host matches and big tournaments,” stadium director Ahmad Al Thani said.

    A recent written request by The Associated Press for more comment on the stadium legacies from the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy was declined.

    The SC’s Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi previously said the stadiums all met sustainability benchmarks.

    “We have recycled and reused wherever possible and implemented a vast range of energy and water efficiency solutions,’” he said in a document on the stadiums. “We have used materials from sustainable sources and implemented innovative legacy plans to ensure our tournament doesn’t leave any ’white elephants.’”

    So, although post-World Cup soccer legacy itself is likely to be low, it’s unlikely cash-rich Qatar will face similar financial and logistical problems other nations did after misusing public resources.

    EXPENSIVE ELEPHANTS

    The Montreal Olympic Stadium that hosted the 1976 Olympic Games became known as a famed white elephant that took 30 years to pay off.

    Previous soccer World Cup hosts are still shelling out, too.

    After South Africa spent $1.1 billion on its 10 stadiums for the 2010 tournament, half of which were new, many were later left unused or underused. This proved highly expensive for city councils left footing the bill and ended up bleeding taxpayer money.

    The $600 million Cape Town Stadium offered a spectacular view of Table Mountain, but for a hefty price. It has reportedly cost taxpayers in the region of $3.5 million a year, but legacy problems were partially resolved by sharing with the city’s Stormers rugby team and hosting international rugby games.

    Brazil spent nearly $4 billion building and renovating venues for 2014. Four cities in Brazil were left with underused stadiums like the $550 million Mane Garrincha in Brasilia, which even hosted one game with just 400 spectators. The 46,000-capacity Arena Pernambuco in Recife does not have a team.

    Russia’s $10.8 billion World Cup price tag was inflated by loss-making arenas with high yearly maintenance. Of the 12 stadiums from 2018, only eight host top-tier matches, generally with tens of thousands of empty seats, except at Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow’s stadiums.

    HUMAN COST

    Qatar has been fiercely criticized for the physical and contractual conditions of workers, mostly from south Asia, needed to build stadiums, metro lines, roads and hotels.

    The exact number of migrant workers who have died or were injured working in often extreme heat on projects since FIFA picked Qatar as World Cup host in December 2010 is unclear. Definitive data has been hard to verify or not published by authorities.

    Qatar has set up a workers’ support fund which, since 2020, has paid $164 million in compensation to more than 36,000 workers from 17 different countries, Human Rights Watch said in August, citing government data.

    ———

    AP Sports Writers James Ellingworth in Duesseldorf and Gerald Imray in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

    ———

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • FIFA urges World Cup teams to focus on soccer over politics

    FIFA urges World Cup teams to focus on soccer over politics

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    GENEVA (AP) — FIFA’s top officials have urged the 32 teams preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality.

    A letter urging teams to “let football take center stage” was sent by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura ahead of intense media focus on coaches and players when World Cup squads are announced next week.

    “Please, let’s now focus on the football!” Infantino and Samoura wrote, asking the 32 soccer federations to “not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”

    Qatar being picked in 2010 as World Cup host sparked scrutiny on its treatment of low-paid migrant workers needed to build projects costing tens of billions of dollars and its laws criminalizing same-sex relationships.

    FIFA’s comments in defense of Qatar follows more strident targeting of critics in recent weeks by public officials, including the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as the Nov. 20 kickoff nears.

    The Emir two weeks ago denounced “fabrications and double standards” in what he has called an “unprecedented campaign” against a World Cup host nation.

    Eight European teams have committed to their captains wearing heart-shaped armbands — in breach of FIFA rules — to support an anti-discrimination campaign launched in the Netherlands, and Australia players took part in a video airing concerns about Qatar’s human rights record.

    Several coaches and federations, including the United States, have backed calls to create a compensation fund for migrant workers’ families. Denmark’s squad is taking a black team jersey as a sign of “mourning” for those who died in Qatar.

    The Dutch soccer federation pushed back at FIFA late Friday, restating its commitment to leave “lasting improvements in the situation of migrant workers in Qatar.”

    The Netherlands plays Qatar on Nov. 29 in Group A and the team’s officials pledged on Friday to press FIFA on creating a long-term resource center in Doha for migrant workers when world soccer’s 211 member federations meet hours before attending the World Cup opening game.

    Iran has also faced calls to be removed before it plays England in the second game of the World Cup on Nov. 21 in a group that also includes the U.S.

    Iranian fan groups want the federation suspended for discriminating against women, and Ukraine soccer officials asked FIFA to remove Iran from the World Cup for human rights violations and supplying the Russian military with weapons.

    Infantino moved from Switzerland to live in Doha for the past year during preparations for what he has consistently said would be the best World Cup ever.

    “We know football does not live in a vacuum and we are equally aware that there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world,” the FIFA leaders wrote on Thursday in their letter that did not address or identify any specific issue.

    “At FIFA, we try to respect all opinions and beliefs, without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world. One of the great strengths of the world is indeed its very diversity, and if inclusion means anything, it means having respect for that diversity.”

    Infantino and Samoura added: “No one people or culture or nation is ‘better’ than any other. This principle is the very foundation stone of mutual respect and non-discrimination. And this is also one of the core values of football.”

    They repeated long-standing promises made by Qatar, including by its Emir at the United Nations general assembly in New York in September, that all visitors to Qatar will be welcome “regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality.”

    In a separate in-house interview published on Friday by FIFA, Samoura acknowledged the perception of Qatar “as a conservative society, like my own country in Senegal.”

    “But let me tell you one thing — Qataris are the most hospitable people you can find on earth,” said the former U.N. official, who is also of Muslim faith.

    Frustration with the scrutiny on the first Arab host of the World Cup led at least two government ministers this week to suggest race as a motive.

    “Is such racism acceptable in Europe in the 21st century? Football belongs to everyone,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in an interview with French daily Le Monde published on Friday.

    Labor Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri said this week that calls to create a compensation fund for migrant workers were a “publicity stunt,” and cited a Qatari-backed scheme that had paid tens of millions of dollars.

    FIFA and Qatari officials have long insisted hosting the World Cup accelerated the modernizing of labor laws which Samoura said on Friday was accepted as a model for regional neighbors to follow.

    About 1.2 million international visitors are expected in Qatar during the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 tournament.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sportsc

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  • EXPLAINER: Traveling to, around Qatar during FIFA World Cup

    EXPLAINER: Traveling to, around Qatar during FIFA World Cup

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Some 1.2 million people are expected to pour into Qatar during the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup that begins this month.

    With fans coming from all over the world, reaching Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula, as well as getting around once there, remains a concern. Estimates suggest that as many as half a million people may be in the country each day during the height of the competition.

    However, fans have a variety of transportation options to choose from ahead of the tournament.

    Here’s a look at how to get there, where to go and how to move around.

    FLYING TO QATAR

    Qatar has become a hub for East-West travel, thanks to its long-haul carrier Qatar Airways. Already, the airline is offering tailored flight, hotel and ticket options for its customers. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is gearing up to have its low-cost carrier FlyDubai run as many as 30 trips a day into Doha to allow spectators to watch a match and then shuttle back to hotels in the emirate. Those flying in will land at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, a massive airport that Qatar built for $15 billion and opened in 2014. The airport has plans to expand further in 2022 to handle 58 million passengers a year. Passengers will clear immigration and customs checks before heading out into the city. Note that during the tournament, Qatar won’t be issuing normal visas and those coming for the matches must have a Qatari-issued Hayya Card. The card verifies you have housing for the time you’re in the country or will travel in just for the match you’re watching. The Hayya Card also is required for entry into stadiums. Also keep in mind that Qatar has only one land border, with Saudi Arabia, if you’re thinking about driving.

    CORONAVIRUS CONSIDERATIONS

    Qatar has had strict rules regarding travel and the coronavirus since the pandemic began, but they were loosened as of Nov. 1. Qatar has dropped a requirement for PCR testing prior to your trip to the country, and said it’s no longer required to download its Ehteraz contact-tracing app.

    HOW TO GET AROUND QATAR

    As you walk out of the airport, you have several options on how to get around. Qatar’s state-owned Mowasalat transportation company offers taxi cabs at curbside. Major ride-hailing apps like Uber also work in Qatar. Mowasalat runs a bus service at the airport, too. Doha also has a recently built metro service, which will take you from the airport to most areas in the capital. The metro also connects to a tram now running in Lusail. You can rent a car at the airport, though officials are urging those coming to the tournament to take mass transit. On match day, public transport will be free to those holding tickets. Keep in mind that Qatar’s riyal currency trades at $1 to 3.64 riyals. There are 100 dirhams in each riyal.

    WHAT TO SEE WHILE IN QATAR

    Outside of the tournament, Doha has several cultural sites to visit. Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art offers both interesting views inside its galleries and a view outside of the city’s skyline. Nearby is Doha’s Souq Waqif, which has traditional storefronts and gifts for sale — including even a falcon section. The National Museum of Qatar, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, is a take on the desert rose. Qatar’s National Library also is renowned for its design. Doha’s Mall of Qatar has some 500,000 square meters (5.3 million square feet) for shopping. There are also beachfront resorts and tour companies offer trips into Qatar’s desert expanses as well.

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    Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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