The Qatar World Cup has been riddled with controversy ever since it was announced back in 2010, but five days before it kicks off people are more angry and sceptical about it than ever.
Featured Image VIA
One of the weirder conspiracy theories that has reared its head recently revolves around how Qatar is allegedly paying ‘fake fans’ from other countries to show up in the country, act like they’re having a good time, post on social media and leave reviews about how awesome an experience they’re having in the Middle Eastern state. That may sound completely ridiculous, but this footage of some ‘England fans’ roaming around and banging a drum shouting ‘It’s Coming Home’ reveals that it’s probably actually 100% true.
Take a look at the TikTok below and see what you think:
@qatarlivingEngland 😍
Lol OK, I think we can all agree here that none of those people wearing England shirts are actually from England, but I suppose that it’s not unreasonable to think that they might genuinely be fans of the English football team. Is this normal behaviour though a few days before a tournament is due to begin?
Funnily enough, there’s also videos of Brazilian fans, Portugal fans and Cameroon fans that all look a bit dodgy doing the rounds too:
@qatarlivingBrazilian national team fans and supporters in Doha Corniche جماهير ومشجعي البرازيل في كورنيش الدوحة
@qatarlivingCameroon 😍
@qatarlivingFans of Portuguese national team 🇵🇹
Those do look slightly more legit than the England fans, but it still seems kind of surprising that so many of them would head to Qatar a full week before the tournament starts and already be marching around the city singing songs – especially when we all know that alcohol is pretty hard to get your hands on in the country and that having a drink helps to perpetuate these kinds of actions. I suppose again you can say that there are genuine fans of the countries in the region, but again it seems kind of weird they would be walking around like this in such massive congregations before a ball has even been kicked, right?
The logical conclusion then is that Qatar has indeed just paid a bunch of locals to dress up in the colours of these teams and march around pretending they’re having a good time. I don’t know if anyone can confirm this at this point, but it really does seem like the most realistic explanation right now.
Can’t wait to see how much of a shit show this turns out to be over the next few weeks. Over to you Gary Neville.
For more of the same, check out this list of rules for the Qatar World Cup. Sounds like a right laugh.
