Global leaders mix sports and diplomacy at the World Cup
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French President Emmanuel Macron (left) and FIFA president Gianni Infantino before the France vs Morocco match on Wednesday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DOHA - They have shown up in the shiny soccer stadiums in Qatar one after the other, popping up more frequently than yellow cards or penalty goals.
There was French President Emmanuel Macron cheering his team “les Bleus” on Wednesday as t hey beat pugnacious underdog Morocco
US Representative Ilhan Omar posted a photograph of her and David Beckham at the match between the United States and Wales last month – “It was fun watching a World Cup game with him,” she wrote online.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was at that match, too, the night before he met with Qatari officials for policy talks. He watched as Tim Weah, the son of the president of Liberia, who was in the box with Mr Blinken, scored the American team’s first goal of the tournament.
On Tuesday, at a summit with African leaders in Washington, Mr Blinken referred to that moment when he introduced Liberian President George Weah, himself a soccer legend.
“The best part of that was turning around and getting a quick look at your face as you watched your son score that goal, and I could see the extraordinary pride that was there and an entire stadium cheering him on,” Mr Blinken said. “So I guess the apple just doesn’t fall too far from the tree in this case.”
The tournament, which takes place every four years, has always been a draw for dignitaries, but this one has been more remarkable because the host, Qatar, a tiny, wealthy kingdom in the Persian Gulf, set out more than a decade ago to elevate its stature by holding a global showstopping event. It has succeeded, despite persistent criticisms of bribery, abuses of migrant labourers and criminalisation of homosexuality.
The World Cup also magnifies Qatar’s role as a diplomatic broker. Even before the games, US President Joe Biden declared Qatar a “major non-Nato ally,” and US officials had come to rely on it to facilitate exchanges with Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Palestinians.
The event is another example of how politics and sports often mix. World leaders and top officials have been streaming through Qatar since the World Cup began Nov 20 to watch matches and hold meetings, sometimes literally on the sidelines.
A few leaders, including Mr Weah, have been spending so much time in Doha that citizens of their countries are asking sharp questions about their priorities. Mr Weah said he secured funding for a highway project at a meeting with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Ms Eva Kaili, a Greek politician and recent vice-president of the European Parliament who has been charged in a bribery scandal involving Qatar, was in a marble-floored VVIP box at the first game.
This World Cup is taking place at one of the most fraught moments in recent world history, with many nations grappling with Russia’s war on Ukraine, the pandemic, inflation, a food shortage and climate disasters. The tournament has provided a setting where foreign leaders can discuss those issues while being part of soccer fandom.
Mr Macron met with Qatari officials in Doha on Wednesday and said he would have more talks Sunday, when he returns for the final. British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said he had “difficult conversations” with the Qataris about human rights.
Mr Bob Menendez, chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discussed Afghanistan, Libya and Lebanon with Qatar’s foreign minister.
More than a dozen heads of state, mostly from the Middle East, attended the opening ceremony. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was there in a show of unity with the emir of Qatar, after having led a 43-month regional blockade of Qatar that ended last year.
“The impact of the World Cup extends beyond the soccer community,” said Mr Ali al-Ansari, a Qatari government spokesperson. “The world has never been more divided, so events like this are a timely reminder that we have far more in common than we think.”
American officials have seized on this opportunity. Besides Mr Blinken and Ms Omar, other officials who have cheered from the stands include Senator Christopher Murphy, Senator Todd Young, Representative Darrell Issa and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
As this World Cup has progressed, Mr Blinken has taken every chance he can to merge soccer with diplomacy. At a Nato meeting in Bucharest last month, he hosted Mr Cleverly and Mr Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, during a watch party for the US-Iran match at a hotel sports bar. (Iran is militarily supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine, while the Americans and the British are backing the Ukrainians.)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (centre) at the US versus Wales match at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The next morning, after the American victory, Mr Blinken praised both the American and Iranian teams at a news conference.
It was no surprise, then, that Mr Blinken and the Qataris scheduled a strategic US-Qatar dialogue on security and economic issues during the World Cup.
Sports was part of the diplomacy: Before he attended the US-Wales match on Nov 21, Mr Blinken showed up at a park in Doha for an event with officials from Qatar, Mexico and Canada where they touted youth soccer exchanges. Soccer, he said, is “an incredibly powerful way of bringing people together.”
But in another appearance, he criticised FIFA, the sport’s governing body, for its threats to penalize tournament players who wore a “One Love” rainbow armband symbolising inclusion.
Mr Blinken plans to watch Sunday’s final, France versus Argentina, with his family at home, which means he will miss a chance to intersect with Mr Macron in Doha. Both men, though, have shouted the same phrase to express their loyalties: “Allez les Bleus!” NYTIMES
