Ahead of Qatar’s first World Cup match in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday afternoon, Qatari fans staying in San Francisco were told attendance is “mandatory” at a fan march in the city on Friday.
Qatar played in the last World Cup because the country was hosting, which brought an intense spotlight on the Middle Eastern nation. The country was heavily scrutinized for its human rights violations, particularly its treatment of migrant workers, and its restrictive laws against LGBTQ people. (There also wasn’t any alcohol at matches and in most parts of the country.) It was the most prominent recent example of “sportswashing,” in which countries attempt to use sports as a way to change their reputation and, often, cover up human rights violations.
This time, Qatar earned their way into the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup and were drawn into Group B, kicking off the tournament against Switzerland at noon on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium. They’ll next play in Vancouver, against hosts Canada, before finishing the tournament in Seattle, against Bosnia and Herzegovina. That’s three border crossings before any possible knockout stage match, which would undoubtedly cause logistical challenges for an overseas fan.
Last week, the Qatar Football Association and the government’s social and sport contribution fund announced an agreement to give 1,000 fans an all-expenses paid trip to North America. The Qatar News Agency reported June 6 that the fans were brought to the Bay Area via three charter flights, with San Francisco International Airport celebrating the arrival of the last of those flights Thursday.
On Friday, those supporters all gathered at the Ferry Building and marched along the Embarcadero in what the Qatar News Agency described as a “further show of support” from fans. But for those who flew in thanks to their government, they may not have had a choice to be there.
Qatari influencer Abdulla Al Ghafri, who uses “QQQ” as his handles across social media, posted a flyer about Friday’s fan march on his Instagram story to his 2.4 million followers. The flyer, which is in Arabic, stipulates that attendance at the march is “mandatory” for any of the fans staying at one of the five downtown SF hotels. “Attendance is optional for fans staying at Santa Clara hotels,” however, the flyer said.
For a country that consistently ranks on the low end of the nonprofit Freedom House’s Freedom in the World score, the required attendance raises questions about how much of what the fans are doing is genuine support — and how much of it is state-funded propaganda.
The Qatari team, meanwhile, spent their Friday in San Jose at PayPal Park, the home of the Earthquakes, for a final training session. Qatar and Switzerland’s match is scheduled to kick off at noon on Saturday.