PARIS, Nov 5 — A scheme by World Cup organisers to recruit fans to act as cheerleaders for Qatar as well as their nations, has brought jeers from some supporters.
Fans who accept will receive free hotel rooms, match tickets and a daily allowance.
In return, they are expected to liven up the opening ceremony and to post positive social media comments about the host country, according to supporters' accounts and documents seen by AFP.
Organisers confirmed in a statement that Qatar is paying for fans from the 32 competing nations to attend the World Cup but said that reports that it was paying for “coordinated promotion” were “absolutely false”.
Other sporting events have used the same system.
Qatar approached hundreds of football bloggers, influencers and leaders of fan associations offering to make them “Fan Leaders”.
“We gagged on reading the document,” said Fabien Bonnel, spokesman for the French Irresistibles, a group of fans contacted in 2021.
“They wanted us to promote them by becoming the influencers of French fans and sell this World Cup in Qatar.”
Other groups were also uneasy.
“One thing is sure, many have refused,” said Ronan Evain of the Football Supporters Europe network. These proposals are “far from true fan culture”.
Yet more than 450 fans from 59 nations signed up, the organising committee said.
They insisted that joining the Fan Leader Network was a “voluntary and unpaid role”.
Each fan leaders picked between 30 and 50 people from each competing nation who have been invited to the opening game on November 20.
They will be flown to Qatar and housed two to a room, said organisers. They will also receive 68 US dollars a day on a preloaded Visa card.
In return they will be expected to liven up the opening ceremony and sign a code of conduct.
A document prepared by the organisers, the Supreme Committee for the Delivery and Legacy, said that midway through the ceremony: “Fan chants from each nation will be played and you will be expected to stand up, sing the song/chant, wave your flags and represent your country.
“The camera will focus on each national fangroup in turn.”
The fans may add some football atmosphere to the first World Cup in an Arab nation.
“Given the prices, the remoteness and the unease around this World Cup, the fans will not be the same as in a classic World Cup. So we have to try to bring them into the stadiums,” said a source close to the French Football Federation.
“They need colour at the opening ceremony, supporters with team shirts. Well filmed. It can make an impact.”
‘Buying Supporters’
While the fans are only obliged to attend the opening ceremony, they will stay a lot longer.
“They are going for ten days, with free tickets for the three group matches of their national team”, said Herve Mougin, president of the French Irresistibles.
During that time the guest fans we will be expected to make social media waves, following Qatar's guidelines.
“Your opinions are your own — We are not asking you to be a mouth piece for Qatar, but it would obviously not be appropriate for you to disparage Qatar, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy...or the FIFA World Cup Qatar,” said the organisers' document.
“You agree to report any offensive, degrading or abusive comments to the SC and, if possible, to take a screenshot of those comments and then promptly delete them”.
The organising committee said in a statement: “Recent media speculation has portrayed this initiative to be an illicit scheme, paying guest fans in return for coordinated promotion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. This insinuation is absolutely false.”
It added that likening the expenses given as a “payment” to the fans “not only overshadows the essence of the programme, it also questions the credibility and motives of the fans involved”.
Last year, the English Football Association invited members of the England Supporters Travel Club to become 'fan leaders'.
Following recent reports about the scheme, an FA statement said: “We were told this was an opportunity to engage with fans from all competing nations to ensure that the voice of supporters was clearly heard.
“We have had no more involvement with the scheme, and no sight of the 'code of conduct’ or any of the terms and conditions of involvement.”
One European fan involved in supporter groups said: “They are buying supporters. It's their plan. We have passed a threshold. It's ridiculous. This is not the image of fans we want to represent. Money isn't everything.” — AFP
