To be honest, I don't for the life of me see why people in Qatar, particularly Qataris, want to host the world cup. Sure it would be a great honor, but the bidding process this time around has been so marred with corruption that any winner will be tarred with it. Many Qataris are increasingly hostile to foreigners who don't respect local customs, which is exactly what will happen when hundreds of thousands of foreigners pour in for the tournament. Can you imagine European fans respecting the dress and alcohol consumption laws in Qatar? And when they don't, heavy-handed jail sentences for the couple caught snogging in a stadium will only be bad publicity, as will all the traffic, heat stroke, infrastructure problems, etc. etc. How do you think yobbish English fans will respond to some guy in a thobe cutting in front of them at the check out? On top of that, the Western press will take advantage of the situation to do human interest stories, and as we have seen time and again these usually harp on the same old themes of lazy entitlement nationals and human rights abuses. Best to keep the world's gaze away from Qatar if you want to keep it the way it is.