From Morocco to Lebanon, via Egypt, football lovers do not have all the means to attend the tournament in the rich Gulf emirate, which begins on Sunday and will close on December 18.
“
Accommodation and transport costs are exorbitant
”, criticizes Makram Abed, a Tunisian supporter who manages a group on Facebook bringing together 40,000 fans of the Eagles of Carthage, one of the four Arab teams qualified, with Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Qatar.
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The first Arab nation to host the event "
could have offered preferential prices
" to the public in the region, he believes, while most of these countries face economic difficulties exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
The World Cups have certainly always been intended for a relatively well-to-do public, different from that of club meetings, recalls the historian specializing in football, Paul Dietschy.
But Qatar having bet on luxury tourism, the Mondial-2022 “
reinforces this particular character
”, he adds.
Even in Saudi Arabia, the region's largest economy, prices in Qatar are making people cringe.
"
You have to take a loan to attend the three matches of the Greens
," quips Mohannad, a 25-year-old Saudi student who does not give his name.
According to Fifa, the largest share of the nearly three million tickets sold were purchased by residents of the host country.
Two other Arab countries are among the ten main buyers: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where the tradition of football is however more recent than elsewhere in the Arab world.
The practice of football developed in the Arabian Peninsula in the 1970s, much later than in the Levant or the Maghreb under British or French influence.
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In Egypt, the first clubs were born after the First World War and the popularity of the two Cairo giants, Zamalek and Al-Ahly, goes far beyond national borders.
In this football-loving nation, fans claim they will go to Doha even if their team did not qualify.
“
Flights to Qatar cost half as much
” as to Russia, host country in 2018, rejoices the Egyptian Amr Mamdouh, who intends to take the opportunity to visit other Gulf countries.
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The hundreds of shuttle flights set up between Qatar and its neighbors during the tournament are a godsend for many Arab supporters, in particular for the thousands of them settled in the rich oil states of the region.
Fadi Bustros, a Lebanese residing in Dubai, an hour's flight from Doha, will be making the round trip for a day, like many of his expatriate friends.
Between the controversies on human rights and the unusual dates of the tournament, in winter, this football fan is concerned however not to find there "
a real atmosphere of the World Cup
".
Two trends
In Morocco, the authorities have announced subsidized flights at around 760 euros, but this is not enough to convince Yassine, a 34-year-old supporter who attended the 2018 World Cup.
The Moroccan had bought tickets for the Atlas Lions matches, before being discouraged by the "
restrictive
" rules of the conservative country, where entertainment and access to alcohol remain limited.
"
A World Cup is synonymous with a beautiful atmosphere, human encounters, carelessness, celebration, Qatar does not meet these criteria
", he regrets.
For his compatriot Wassim Riane, 38, who also made the trip to Russia, Qatar is "
a country without footballing history which does not have a culture of celebration
".
Historian Paul Dietschy distinguishes two trends in the region: on the one hand, "
popular football that attracts crowds
" as in Morocco, Iraq, Syria or Algeria, and on the other, countries where this sport is "
more of a show that you watch on television
" as well as a tool of "
soft power
", like Qatar.
