Qatar spent almost 200 million on bidding, far more than everyone else. It needed to rebuild or build an entire country to host this tournament. The only kind of open question is what persuaded them to do it. There has been several investigations about corruption within FIFA.
Soccer is sometimes called “the second religion of the Arab World,” and Qatar is the region’s first country to host the World Cup. But FIFA’s pick of the desert nation comes with boundless controversy.
This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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