“Russia is handing over the relay baton for hosting the FIFA World Cup to Qatar,” Putin said. “We are proud of what we did for fans of this wonderful sport. We ourselves, the whole country, got an enormous amount of pleasure from interacting with soccer, with the world of soccer, with the fans who came here from all over the globe.”
Passing the ball: “I’m sure that our friends from Qatar will be able to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the same high level. We are, of course, ready to share the experience we acquired in holding the World Cup this year, along with our friends,” Putin said. At the climax of the ceremony, Putin handed an official World Cup ball to Infantino, who then handed it on to the emir. The Qatari emir said his country would apply all its efforts to making a success of the 2022 World Cup. “We hope to overcome all the difficulties,” he said. He said his country would also try to outdo the success on the pitch of the Russian team, who surpassed expectations by reaching the quarter-finals. “Although it will be hard to repeat that success as we’re a small country, but we are very keen on sport,” he said.
In the build-up to this year’s World Cup, some Western politicians called for a boycott over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and over allegations, denied by Moscow, that the Kremlin assassinates its opponents overseas. There were also warnings from some campaign groups about the potential for hooligan violence, racist attacks and homophobia. The tournament proceeded without any significant organisational hitches, there was no violence, and no widespread evidence of racism or harassment of gay visitors.
Published in Daily Times, July 16th 2018.
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