Foreign workers ‘rewarded’ with cheaper tickets

SOME of the millions of foreign workers in Qatar have been “rewarded” with exceptionally low ticket charges in appreciation for their behind-the-scenes work at this World Cup.

Jita Singh, Singapore’s award-winning coach who is in Doha to watch the tournament, said he was surprised at this gesture by the organisers.

Far from Doha’s luxury hotels and sprawling new World Cup stadiums, the South Asian workers, from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, poured into a few cricket grounds in the city’s sandy outskirts to enjoy the tournament they helped create.

FOOD OPTIONS

There were even food options beyond deep-fried Indian snacks and the grassy pitch in Asian Town, a neighbourhood of labour camps, is packed with migrant workers from some of the world’s poorest countries. 

But credit to them, praised Jita, as they have powered Qatar, one of the world’s richest, and helped accomplish its multi-billion-dollar stadium-building effort for this first-ever tournament in the desert terrain.

He said: “I was told they paid the equivalent of US$3 even for the Argentina football jersey they wore when they sat with 15,000 other migrant workers in a hidden corner of Doha to watch Lionel Messi’s side salvage their World Cup hopes.”

Messi’s goal in the 2-0 win over Mexico on Sunday brought the biggest crowd seen at the Asian Town cricket stadium to their feet.

Jita added: “I feel sad when they’re called  “fake fans” and they readily acknowledge that they bought counterfeit team jerseys for US$3 or less, instead of the US$90 that an official version costs.”

* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor