Abstract
On 2 December 2010, Qatar, the exotic outsider, surprisingly won the bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, thereby becoming the first Middle Eastern country chosen to host the global festival of this ‘royal football league’. Qataris have high hopes for the tournament, and ambitious aims for their country's development in preparation for 2022 and beyond. Since the rise to power of the current Amir, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, in 1995, he has gradually introduced neoliberal policies in an attempt to build a knowledge-based economy. These developments are taking place in the context of Qatar's National Vision 2030, the blueprint for Qatar's economic, social, human, and environmental development over the next two decades. This paper examines these developments and the social and cultural challenges Qataris will face as a result of their implementation.
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