If you haven’t been following the news recently, I’ll quickly summarize what’s been going on in regards to the World Cup. Qatar is meant to host the World Cup in 2022 and FIFA is considering expanding the tournament from 32 teams to 48. For that to happen, FIFA calculated it could be done if at least one additional Gulf country was used to co-host the World Cup with Qatar. Since Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have severed ties with Qatar, the only two countries left are Oman and Kuwait. Oman already said they aren’t capable of hosting the World Cup so FIFA is urging Kuwait to become a co-host.
Countries spend millions on campaigns to try and win the right to host the World Cup, it’s HUGE. And yet because of a bunch of unusual circumstances, Kuwait is now in the position where they are basically being begged by FIFA to accept the role of co-hosting. That’s just crazy.
I don’t know why people aren’t more excited about this, Kuwait could potentially be hosting the World Cup here in 3 years! And the best part is, the whole thing just fell into our laps without us even getting off the couch!
I was asking a few friends why Kuwait is playing so hard to get, I mean you’d think we’d be all over this massive opportunity. One theory is we don’t want to embarrass ourselves because we aren’t capable to host the event. I don’t think that’s really an issue because I’m sure we can throw money at this problem by hiring the right people to help us out and by fixing whatever needs to be fixed so we look good on TV. Another theory to why we’re hesitant is that there would have to be some major changes that would have to happen very quickly with the two biggest changes being to the visa system and the legalization of alcohol. This I can understand but it’s also one of the reasons I want the World Cup to happen, I want to see how much positive change it will bring to Kuwait.
Whatever happens, we host or not, I feel we really need to appreciate this position we’re in right now where we actually have a pretty large chance of getting the World Cup. This is a moment that will most likely never come again.
97 replies on “Are we on the verge of hosting the World Cup?”
It’s going to be extremely difficult to come up with all the infrastructure required in such a short amount of time but it does seem possible
I agree… but… we also won’t be the main hosts so we don’t need as much of an infrastructure as Qatar does for example. We have the hotels, we have three big ones that should also be open by then and even our new airport is scheduled to be completed a few months before the World Cup would begin.
Hosting the world cup is a colossal waste of money for the country. Stadiums in South Africa now lie dormant and require routine maintenance. The same goes for the stadiums used at the Beijing Olympics.
If you read any of the articles, Kuwait isn’t being asked to build any stadium, they will be using two stadiums we already have. One holds 60,000 people the other holds 36,000.
For only 2 reasons!
1) Alcohol
2) Allowing Israeli citizens to enter the country.
3) infrastructure (let’s fix our roads first lol)
But tbh 1 can be achieved if we really want to, since it’s enough to make alcohol legal to be consumed in hotels only for a limited amount of time.
Number 2 cannot be achieved and is unwanted by many PMs and citizens and governmental members. This is the decisive reason for not hosting.
And I really hope they never do agree!
It ain’t gonna happen. Maybe if they bar Kuwaitis from all the fun, and all that’s left is Fifa 22 on your PS4-5 and pretend like we’re there.
Throw money at it? That’s not the solution since just look at the T4 airport fiasco, the lack of a gas station at the race track, and the roads etc….it would be a huge embarrassment for all involved. Besides there aren’t enough hotel rooms aslan, and they’ll never ever legalise alcohol and how are they going to handle the entry visas situation?
We still don’t have a mechanism to receive mail at home bro….
I don’t understand what the lack of a gas station at the race track has to do with this 😂😂
It’s just one of a million examples of how for some reason they just can’t seem to get it right, regardless of how much money they throw at things
Lack of a gas station is due to KNPC’s refusal. Are you gonna stop building the track because 1 gas station was not approved?
I can understand the whole visa thing, but my question is, why would Israelis come to Kuwait? Is Israel going to compete in the World Cup? And regarding alcohol, they can just not allow it if they want, what’s the big deal? Does one have to be drunk to enjoy a match?
As someone who doesn’t watch football, yes I’d have to be drunk to enjoy a match lol
*facepalm to oblivion*
Ummm they can come to spectate…?!
And the alcohol yes u are technically correct… but then no one will come and it will be an utter failure, seriously.
@the other Ahmed,
No, not necessarily be drunk to watch a match but Budweiser is the main sponsor for FIFA. They wont sponsor the Kuwaiti Matches.
not the point of being drunk to enjoy footbal but many of the teams have alcohol brands as sponsors and one of the main sponsors of fifa is budweiser. so even if alcohol is not sold in kuwait, its about the branding of alcohol that will be expected by the sponsors throughout kuwait.
yes any Israeli is allowed in, even if there team doesn’t qualify.
Any person who purchase a world cup ticket is eligible to enter the country. Rule of FIFA! Again hope it never happens!
Said the Palestinian ..
Best way out of this would be for Kuwait to build stadiums in Oman. 🙂
“I want to see how much positive change it will bring to Kuwait.” So positive change is correlated strongly to alcoholism! Let me say that by far that this the saddest thing I’ve ever heard!
You really think very little of positivity!
Positivity comes from the freedom to choose, be it alcohol or ice cream. So yes, the legalizing of alcohol is something positive and would lead to other better things (improved nightlife, food cooked with wine, legalization of weed down the line, etc)
Dream on Mark, dream on. and oh, freedom is a lie. Don’t believe in lies Mark.
“Freedom is a lie” said the bird locked up in a cage to justify it’s inability to escape.
Aren’t we all birds locked up in some kind of cage? and even if you broke free away from that cage, you’ll be a beast tamed up by a master. Freedom indeed is a big lie. “..to justify it’s inability to escape” said the free bird justifying its own freedom.
Have a fabulous day, good sir!
Hahaha.. You are in a dreamworld Mark, making alcohol available for a short time might be a viable option even then there will be a lot of people opposing it saying foreigners are coming to destroy the country and not respecting them or their culture. Food cooked in wine breaking of the halal norms here another uproar, can’t see it happening but on an off chance might still be possible.Then the most impossible and unimaginable thing legalization of weed, not going to happen in 50 years until there will be some of the young gen people in the cabinet who are more liberal minded but they will still be over whelmed by the opposition then (just speculation, can’t predict that far into the future) But yes in 70 – 100 years things might change here but we won’t be there to enjoy it, hopefully the future generations are able to.
@mark … legalization of weed.. hahaha. I’m going to leave my comment just at that.
But honestly, without legalizing alcohol or drugs, Kuwait has quite a bit of intoxicated driver around killing themselves/someone else or just messing up someone’s day. I wonder what will happen to Kuwait if they actually legalize it.
I mean, whenever I end up in Dubai, I notice the locals and expats enjoying their freedom very responsibly. I don’t mean to generalize but a lot needs to be improved in Kuwait apart from infrastructure before freedom is exercised
That’s because in Dubai if you’re caught drunk driving you’re pretty much screwed no matter what nationality you are. In Kuwait the cops don’t really care and I think it’s mostly because they know that even if they did their jobs, the guy would most likely have wasta and get out of it. It’s demoralizing.
My brother was born in Kuwait and spent 18 years here and then moved to Dubai. Now he is so used to the lifestyle and freedom there. he doesn’t want to come back. Every time I travel to Dubai too, I get this vibe of a fair amount of equality if not complete equality which actually makes me love Dubai even more. But then Dubai is way too plastic and I begin to compromise with what life has to offer here.
Sure bring alcohol to Kuwait, BUT only if you all agree to house the influx of north Saudi cowboys who will invade Kuwait the day their government pay check lands in their bank account each month, and the all others who borrow money for the weekends in between.
How about if alcohol is only permitted for non Muslims? Kinda like the non Muslim pork sections at supermarkets in Dubai. I mean if saudis is the only problem with legalizing alcohol I’m sure we can all work together to figure out a solution 😅
The saddest part is that people don’t want change, if things don’t change, in a couple of generations, we’re gonna be the next Arab country with half of the people trying to earn a living abroad.
Have they obtained the necessary permits from KSA before they can let Kuwait have a say in the matter?
LOL… You made it sound very bad! as if Kuwait is KSA’s B*!@&!
Audibly LOL’d
The deep strong relation between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait is something you will never understand. and don’t underestimate Kuwait. It has been known historically that bad things happen to those people.
Kuwait needs to hire top expats to manage World Cup expectations,
Kuwait doesn’t pay big salaries and Kuwait hates expats
Kuwait 100% is NOT ready to host. Kuwait couldn’t get roads fixed for 20 years. Couldn’t adequately prepare for population growth. Has to always make “the other” the scapegoat of all their problems.
Hundreds of thousands of people visit a country for the World Cup.. when has Kuwait even had such large amounts of traffic coming into the country?
Alcohol would def need to be legalized. Israeli citizens would def need to be allowed in (even though I agree with the ban).
Another thing is.. one of the main economic drivers for a country is sales tax.. Since there’s no tax on goods, how much of a benefit would we be getting in hosting the World Cup?
If hosting means that we let the Zionist regime members in then we should not allow it. Kuwait will never recognise Israel.
And how are Palestinians any better?
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Palestinians are our Arab brothers and sisters. Palestine will always remain an Arab cause and the number one cause for all Arabs.
And how are you any better as a human, moron?
One who asks such a question doesn’t know much about this world, doesn’t know much about anything.. I think you spent your whole life on COGNAC!
What away to live! Glad that there are not many of you out there!
If the Emir says yes, we will and you can’t do anything about it.
Tbh all we need is a good “high” *wink wink* quality fatwa from some guy with a beard and BAM it’s all halal.
Already done in Saudi, so
These people live in a bubble! Neither they nor they Mofti represent Islam! Please don’t mix Kuwait & KSA together! There a world difference between the two!
Thankfully the Emir of Kuwait and the vast majority of Kuwaiti people are very pro-Palestinian. Kuwait will be the last country to recognize the Zionist regime. Hopefully they wont last that long and we will see Palestine free in our lifetime.
Not happening cause of the alcohol ban. Infrastructure maybe but that’s only a problem if the players have to travel long distances between stadiums within the host city. They will need to sell beer.
https://youtu.be/DlJEt2KU33I
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/fifa-says-no-alcohol-no-deal-on-world-cup-441474.html
Who needs alchohol when we have 1,000 coffee shops?! *cries in caffeine*
+1 +Gold +XP
Hmmm:
It’s a waste of money, the infrastructure built would be useless after the event. They should direct such money to the public school system or youth sports.
It brings unwanted global attention to the poor labor conditions for the workers who build this infrastructure.
How would new roads, refurbished stadiums and an improved public transportation system be useless after the event?
Read about South Africa and Brazil after the world cup, Athens after the Olympics.
We don’t have that problem because they will be using two of our current existing stadiums. We are cohosting the World Cup not hosting it so we have a lot less to do
Just look at what happens to the stadiums after the World Cup is done. They gradually break down and become derelict because they don’t get used.
Yes but they’re not asking us to build new stadiums. They want to use our large 60,000 stadium and refurbish another 36,000 seat stadium.
I feel sad for you, because you had to express this same message multiple times throughout this post hahaha… I think you need to put a disclaimer in the post itself ahaha.
Cause those countries r poor and need every penny they can get. Kuwait sends millions and billions as aid to poor countries overseas. We don’t need the fifa money we just want the world to know that we r here “hello yes Kuwait, no kuwait is not a petrol station in Amsterdam, no it’s an actual country and we don’t fuck our camels… Atleast not all of us”, it’s like Qatar who want fifa as a status symbol. Look at China, London and how they actually made use of the stadiums during the Olympics (Olympic stadiums are a lot less useful than football stadiums). What we really need is hareer to get going ASAP.
hahaha… the first half of your comment was freaking hilarious. I hope my Kuwaiti boss doesn’t fire me for laughing at a joke on Kuwait. But anyways jokes apart. Kuwait really needs to be better known in the world. I mean when you talk about gulf or the middle east. the first thing that comes to peoples mind is Dubai. lol. I have had instances where when I was I was asked where do I live, and i said Kuwait they either got really racist where they walked away ( in Thailand, CZ they really hate Kuwaiti’s for some reason) or they directly say ” o middle east, you mean Dubai.” and I am like No, Kuwait is a country, the same country your president bush sent his soldiers too and increased your countries economy.
it’s sad to say. but Kuwait really needs FIFA but it also needs to be executed well. Anyone can plan. EXECUTION IS THE KEY.
I appreciate your optimism, Mark. Yes, Kuwait has hurdles to overcome to successfully co-host a World Cup but I say, “Why not?!” What else do we have a nation have to brag about in the last 5 years? Our fireworks display for National Day? This would truly be huge for Kuwait.
What fireworks display??
Knowing Kuwait’s shortcomings I was or maybe still genuinely excited if we can co-host.
Everything will get a bump and this is what Kuwait really needs if managed properly.
I’m going to stay optimistic.
For that proper Human Resource Management is required without discrimination. Which is a bigger issue than all other discussed issues.
Let’s be optimistic people, change is always viable!
Further to what Mr. Harrison Monteiro said regarding proper HR management without discrimination. Hosting the World Cup would mean opening doors to die hard football fans.. That means all of them .. will Kuwait do that for all individuals coming in for the matches without questions?? I dont only mean the Israeli’s what about single unmarried women coming from Eastern European countries or single women from any country just coming with their friends to watch a game?? Whats to stop the authorities from labeling them possible women of ill repute and deny access?? What about nationals from the sub continent, Asia and Africa?? Not all of them may actually fit in the criteria of citizens from countries allowed to enter. Will they be allowed in if they have a fully paid for valid match ticket ?? Or will FIFA on its ticketing sites first notify its fans ” that the match in question will be played in the State of Kuwait so please check your eligibility to get a visa or don not buy a ticket??
When I was applying for a Bahrain visa to attend formula 1. they had a completely different visa process. you just need to have a valid formula 1 ticket. and you enter into Bahrain without visa hassles with respect to your inbound and outbound during the formula1 period and have a confirmed stay in a hotel.
If Kuwait makes an exemption for FIFA like how Bahrain did for formula one a month ago. then the visa issue is eradicated.
But then again its Kuwait, and there will be some person who thinks out the box and try to monetize on it just like how they sell visa’s today. (Ps. I tried to be as polite as possible)
And one more thing will all these fans be required to carry with them valid Health certificates attested by the Kuwaiti embassies in their respective countries stating that they are not carrying any communicable diseases and are healthy to mingle with the locals??
So you are saying that Kuwait would do the same?? Any national be it an Israeli or an Indian, or a Bangladeshi or any national from the list of 06 or 07 currently banned countries by Kuwait can just buy a match ticket and show up at the Kuwait airport and get a visa on arrival then??
I dont think so. ..
Is India in the banned countries list? Surprising. This can never happen.
PLEASE DO A RESEARCH BEFORE WRITING SOMETHING HERE.
1. Indians aren’t banned in Kuwait… I mean Indians make one of the largest population in Kuwait after. Philippines if I am not mistaken. But anyways I’m not here to educate about which nationalities are banned and not, Google will help you.
But what I am here to state is that if Kuwait introduces a system where they can create exemption for visas for people visiting the world cup with various exceptions of course. I think it would help the economy of the country a lot.
I mean imagine 30k people coming in as tourists for fifa, the revenue generated by malls, restaurants, cafes, cinema, cabs, etc will be crazy. And with every business in Kuwait needing at least 51% stake of a KUWAITI, for sure the public of Kuwait would be making a huge chunk of money.
The airport will make so much revenue of the increase in number of flights and the surcharges they charge.
In short the GDP of the country will see the highest point in comparison to the history.
It will definitely highlight Kuwait on the globe.
The complete image many westerns have of Kuwait as people riding on camels will change… For sure many KUWAITI youth will purchase more Ferrari, lambos, and rolls just to flaunt it around the tourist who come in.. I mean it will be the peak of attention for Kuwait.
Even the qataris say it’s a waste of money and time. Kuwait won’t do it because the Parliament wont approve. There are much much more important things to spend money on.
What is so bad bout Israel tho? I’m open to anyone willing to explain why Palestinians are allowed in Kuwait while Israelis, considering Israel supported liberation of Kuwait while Palestinian did the opposite.
What did the Palestinians do though? Did they ostracize, kill, and cut out the resources of Kuwaitis? Or of any other country?
Israeli policies have year after year shunned the Palestinian people. Caused them to live without resources like electricity, water etc. Displaced them from their homes (and its still happening). Palestinians deal with discrimination on a daily basis in their own homeland thanks to checkpoints.
They definitely stole a lot of things..
They’re traitors. Read more of the history and stories surrounding the Gulf War and open your mind a bit, instead of accepting what the media feeds you nowadays.
There are millions of Palestinians. Sure you get a few bad apples, just like everyone else. Dont generalize, Kuwait has always stood with the Palestinian cause and will always do that. Israel wants the Arabs divided, we must not let them have that.
“Israel wants to divide Arabs” what a joke! Arabs are born divided kid, wake up and smell the coffee. Israel is too busy producing tanks, technology and even fucking 3D printed human tissue hearts. We ain’t worth shit to them, us arabs are worth the oil in the ground that everyone is walking away from. The reason why we believe “Israel wants to destroy Arabs” is to shove our heads in the mud and hide the fact that Arabs want to destroy each other and once oil ends we ain’t worth shit. We went from being the forefront of civilisation to being able the backwards scum of the earth. Stop blaming our people for how shit we are.
You should learn to differentiate between Yasser Arafat and a handful of traitorous Palestinians in Kuwait from the majority of innocent ones who were punished for something they had nothing to do with. It’s not right to paint everyone with a broad brush. Also don’t forget the valuable contribution Palestinians made to the modernization of Kuwait.
You asked what is bad about Israel. Why don’t you look at the hundreds of UN resolutions passed against it along with the dozens of human rights reports? Israel is an oppressive colonial state that is turning more radical by the day.
This is Kuwait, not Palestine. We got attacked by Palestinian racism which had Palestinians going into Kuwaiti households looking for Kuwaiti maids and “3abeed” after all the money and support Kuwait sent to them. God damnt Palestine was a black hole of Kuwaiti aid and this they attacked us. Israel is a million times more useful to Kuwait than Palestine. Now back to my first question why is Israel bad, as in to Kuwait.
For starters, Kuwait could look to hosting the Women’s World Cup and the Youth Under 19 World Cup Soccer, first, then put the learnings to use and only then make a bid for the real thing- it might actually work.
Treat it as a pet project under the exclusive control of the Amiri Diwan then sit back and watch them turn it into stardust!
La la la- we cannot or rather should not host the World Cup, not now not ever. Imagine the huge expenses the State would have to incur constructing stadia for segregating families, local shabaabs and expat bachelors. Further and more, how would we handle English soccer yobs coming into this country?
They would run amok without their first love of beer and pubs. Beside, there would be a demand supply shortage sutuation with the vice dens in Kuwait simply not being able to cope with the huge influx of ajnabees into the country.
Correct, there would be efforts to traffic in additional prostitutes to handle the demand that exists during these type of global sporting events. This is a well known phenomenon.
World Cup soccer 2022 in Qatar has upped the ante so much for its regional neighbors cum arch rivals that the joke is Dubai might want to bid for the Winter Olympics ahead of the Summer Olympics, in keeping with its megalomaniac designs and interplanetary ambition.
Hypothetically, it would be great for Kuwait. Realistically, no. Kuwait doesnt have the experience nor facilities to accomodate tourism yet. Plus, we are better off without a bunch of drunkards running amok here, like we dont have enough accidents. Lack of proper law enforcement will make people drink irresponsibly. There’s little awareness about it so suddenly and easily saying “ok lets legalize it” would increase the rate of problems. And for what? Getting wild? Making soccer matches more fun to watch? Its not worth it. Drinking certainly doesnt make one more “open-minded”, so I dont know why people are saying some drinks will make society more open.
Lol..easier said than done so whatever. If someone wants to drink, they will find other ways and its readily available in Lebanon, Dubai, and whatnot.
There are better improvements that should be done first, alcohol is not a priority.
Dear Some one from Kuwait..PLEASE LEARN TO READ before Commenting.. I mentioned Indians Bangladeshis as citizens of the Asian continent who are big die hard fans of football many who are affluent enough to travel and afford a ticket as examples ALONG with citizens from the banned list of countries and ISRAELIS who again fit the same category of affluence and who are die hard fans,…who are able to afford a ticket.. will they be allowed in ???
Dear Harrison Joshua Monteiro, I never said Indians or Bangladeshi’s were banned.. what I meant to put across was exactly what you are saying as citizens of countries who make up the highest parts of the expatriate community in Kuwait would Kuwait be willing to open the gates to these citizens just wanting to watch a game?? Would they be willing to take a chance they they would all honor their visa dates and go back after the game? ; or stay illegally back and join the dark world we have here of illegal immigrants working without a permit?
Coming back to your earlier point on visa trading.. whats to stop a bunch of people buying tickets whole sale and selling them on the black market as golden entry tickets to people of these same countries?? No medicals, no screen checks , no nothing.. just a valid passport and a FIFA ticket and you are in.. heck the local pimps and madams would have field day getting a bunch of East European girls in here and setting them up in flats all over the place .. They would make up for the cost tickets and travel expenses on day 01 alone..
Some one mentioned 30,000 fans .. we cant handle regular work traffic you think we can handle a surge of 30,000+ fans / tourists coming in and trying to get from A to B? . It took 05 months just for the country to wake up and finally decide to fix our roads..
Qatar had far more time then Kuwait will and they still are working at it ,, so really I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Why would Indians stay back after their visas have been expired? Strange.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has placed a ban on Bangladeshi workers: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1260111/middle-east
Kuwait has not placed any such ban on Indians
I didn’t get 1 thing as Alcohol is banned why the interest on loans and credit from banks and shopping centers is not banned. I mean in ISLAM Alcohol is forbidden but as for interest its mentioned in the Holy Quran who ever deal with interest it is as if they are in war with ALLAH and the prophet(PBUH). Alcohol ban is good but what about waging war with ALLAH and prophet(PBUH)? I lack knowledge in ISLAM so I am not much aware may be it was for that time I am not sure.
Now come on, everyone needs to make money somehow. I wouldnt suggest getting religion into such matters. you never know maybe then the government will put a ban on salaries for expats to reduce the interest on loan for the kuwaiti’s and rename interest as service charge.
I think the World Cup will be just what the cleric ordered to try and jump start the local economy – I am thinking ample visa trading opportunities here. With any luck, a Visa trader worth his salt should ideally, be able to sneak in Bibi no less, into the VIP grand stand for the semis or finals.
Hosting the World Cup seems to me the only way the Kuwait national team can secure a place to play in the World Cup again- not with the way they are playing ever since Madrid 1982 happened.
Soccer World Cup should not be the be all and end all of everything that we aspire to do and become.
Playing host to the World Equesterian & Showjumping championship, the World Jet Ski championship or the World Fencing Championship are indeed low hanging fruit for Kwt and is perhaps more in line with the national narrative than say, hosting of the World Soccer Cup. That said, there’s no absolute reason why hosting a few matches in Kuwait should prove to be such a Sisyphean task
As I sit perched on my anal verge reading cringeworthy comments from the many, I cannot NOT help coming to what is now a forgone conclusion :
‘While many Kuwaitis don’t like expats and I trust many expats to not like them back; most Kuwaiti people don’t particularly like other Kuwaiti people 🙂
By the bye, I envy you people your relative freedom of online expression- something which is non existent in the Emirates, Bahrain or Qatar.
Give me World Cup water polo or World Cup Polo anyday over hosting World Cup soccer.