BARRIO – Host country Qatar has been accused of paying actors to portray fans of different countries ahead of the World Cup. Several videos have been released of supporters on streets of Doha, but there have been questions regarding the legitimacy of those in the clips.
Videos have been posted on TikTok of England, Brazil and Portugal fans among several other nations at the tournament, though the comments have been filled with fears that Qatar has paid actors to play the role of fans at the tournament in order to promote the country. Both the videos of England and Brazil fans have had over a million views, while the clip of allegedly Brazilians dancing and partying in Doha has been seen over four million times.
One fan accused QatarLiving, the account that posted the videos, of using the same fans in separate videos in an attempt to con social media users. “Saw them all dressed as Brazil fans yesterday,” one fan said. “I swear they’re paying the workers to be fans at this point I’ve seen them supporting like 7 different countries,” another wrote.”
The World Cup being held in Qatar has been a controversial issue due to the nation’s human rights issues, treatment of migrant workers and criminalization of homosexuality after they were accused of bribing FIFA officials to be awarded the tournament.
Former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter has recently admitted that awarding the World Cup to Qatar over the USA was a “mistake”, though he only highlighted the logistical issues, rather than the concerns over the moral decision to host a World Cup in Qatar.