As World Cup 2022 Fades from Memory, it Leaves Behind an Important Message about Arab Culture

posted on: Dec 28, 2022

By: John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer

One particular highlight of the World Cup was tournament hero Argentine Lionel Messi donning the Arab bisht or traditional Arab men’s cloak. Some critics believed that Messi’s celebrating while wearing the bisht was a step too far. Foreign fans who had stayed on after the Cup sidled up to Qatar’s culture, enjoying some of its joys. Qatari ambassador to the U.S. declared that the World Cup provided “a unique global opportunity to promote unity, discover commonalities, and break down cultural barriers and misperceptions, with soccer as the unifying force.

“Wear it like Messi: meet the football fans making the most of Qatari culture”

The above quote is from Euronews. Culture epitomizes the sentiments of a significant number of fans at World Cup Qatar. World Cup hero Lionel Messi captured the mutual respect of fans and Qataris by donning the Arab bisht or traditional Arab men’s cloak. It is a symbol of pride, honor, and respect in Arab culture. Qatar’s Emir presented team captain Messi with the bisht just before the champion raised the golden World Cup trophy in celebration of Argentina’s victory. It was intended to celebrate Messi and, by extension, the fans.

The bisht is also known in other Arabic dialects as the mislah or ‘aba. It has been worn in the Middle East for over a thousand years, by Jews, Christians, and later Muslims. It was known to have been worn in the time of Jesus. The bisht is a flowing coat worn over an inner garment, the thawb.

While some critics believed that Messi’s celebrating while wearing the bisht was a step too far, suggesting his act “sullied the greatest moment in his footballing career.” They believed that by covering up his team number with the bisht that he was downplaying his team’s national recognition. They also argued that Qatar was unnecessarily inserting itself and its culture into the final ceremony.

An opposite opinion was that it is racist to criticize Doha for playing out its role as host to largely successful games. Such negative criticism of Qatar might be seen as ethnocentric, even xenophobic. In any case, this criticism, at least according to some fans, was belied by the fact that many of them stayed behind in Qatar to get a better taste of Qatari culture. Some had missed flights, while others remained behind in Doha by choice.

International Fans Get into Arab Culture

Following the Cup, the Euronews reporter interviewed foreign fans who had stayed on. Some of these fans were dressed in Arab gowns with matching head scarves decorated with their teams’ colors. Fans strolled down narrow passageways in the old part of Doha, known as Souq Waqif. The reporter saw onlookers stop to take selfies with the be-gowned fans. He saw another group, “clad in Croatia-themed clothes. Again, people moved towards them to take their pictures. Dozens of fans have followed suit, soaking themselves in Arab culture during the FIFA World Cup 2022.”

In the alleys of Souq Waqif, the traditional market in the capital city, vendors were busy selling the thobe and the male headcover, called the gutra. These were available in the colors of all 32 national teams playing in the Cup. The prices of these articles of clothing were quite reasonable by any currency standard. Many fans from the U.S., Canada, England, France, South Korea, Argentina, and Brazil cheered on their teams in the traditional Arab gown and head-dress. Some non-Muslim female visitors even wore the hijab or head covering.

Qataris themselves were impressed with the fans’ interest in Arab customs and dress. Some locals went as far as to say, “It’s an amazing gesture, it’s nice to see my culture adopted by them. They are wearing our traditional clothes and they’ll take our culture back home. Even if it’s for a week or two, it’s nice to see them in thobes. I like it,” exclaimed one Qatari

Qatari citizens were pleased to see how some international fans developed a sense of respect for the local culture. Clearly, these fans were able to see that Qatar presents a mix of tradition and modernity. They could see that Qatar dress codes and a strong sense of personal modesty contrast with the modern, developed signs of the economy. Whether fans could understand the full impact an authoritarian society has on its citizens and the thousands of migrant workers is another matter.

A Qatari Perspective on the Impact of the World Cup

In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Qatar’s ambassador to Washington responded to a Post editorial, “An Undignified World Cup.” In taking exception, the ambassador noted that the World Cup provided “a unique global opportunity to promote unity, discover commonalities, and break down cultural barriers and misperceptions, with soccer as the unifying force.”

Qatar’s ambassador went on to extoll the positive value represented by 440 million Arabs versus the misunderstandings and negative stereotypes of them. He noted that the 1.4 million Cup visitors “traveled back to their homes with a better understanding of our culture and a connection to our people.” On the Qatari side, the ambassador’s letter suggested that the World Cup allowed it to enhance worker protection. This was a reference to the dismal, often fatal labor conditions of the thousands of migrant workers who built the seven stadiums.

Another point the ambassador raised was the importance of the bisht in the closing ceremony. He noted, “The presentation of the bisht – a symbol of pride, honor, and respect in our culture—by His Highness the Amir to Lionel Messi before he lifted the trophy embodied the tournament’s central message of cultural exchange and understanding.”

The letter goes on, with a certain level of hyperbole, about the “warm and welcoming culture” of Qatar that values all human beings. The ambassador was correct in suggesting that the World Cup provided an opportunity to “explore new cultures, discover shared values and challenge prejudices” and that these should be “celebrated as a success for all.”

The ambassador got part of the equation right: the part that extols specific Arab cultural values, including the important place of hospitality in welcoming strangers into their midst. On a personal note, as a social anthropologist, I have experienced the benefits of Arab hospitality—generously offered to me by a Saharan Desert community, who took me, a stranger, into their midst to live with them for a year.

The other side of the story of Qatar society, the authoritarian part, is left for another day. In the meantime, let us take away some of the more positive outcomes of the 2022 World Cup, including Qatar’s (mostly) warm welcome to soccer fans from around the world.

Sources:
“Wear it like Messi: meet the football fans making the most of Qatari culture,” Euronews. Culture, 12/22/2022
“The World Cup allowed Qatar to enhance worker protections,” Sheikh Meshal bin Hamed Al-Thani, Qatar Ambassador to the U.S., Washington Post, 12/24/2022

John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.

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