After rocky buildup, football ready to grab World Cup spotlight

AL KHOR, Qatar : Soccer took centre stage on Sunday as a World Cup shrouded in controversy prepares to kick off with a glitzy opening ceremony and host Qatar playing Ecuador in the first match to push aside the criticism which has dogged the showcase event.

Under a glaring sun, Qatari men in crisp white thobes and women in black shayla headdresses and abayhas began filing into the spectacular Al Bayt stadium designed to look like the tents used by nomads.

As host of the Middle East's first World Cup the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is expected to welcome a star-studded guest list of celebrities and political leaders including Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the presidents of Egypt and Algeria.

Many of the labourers who toiled to build the eight stadiums will watch from the sidelines unable to afford the highest ticket prices ever for a World Cup but a lucky few will be sprinkled among the well-heeled audience having been gifted tickets by the England soccer team.

The controversy that has long surrounded the decision to award the tiny Gulf state the World Cup has built to a crescendo ahead of the tournament, with unrelenting scrutiny of its treatment of migrant workers and the LGBT+ community.

"We are ready," Hakeem Ahmad told Reuters as he entered the stadium with his wife and two children. "Whatever happens on the pitch, the world should look kindly on us today.

"We have organised this party for you. If Qatar can perform well, that would be a bonus for us.

"We hope that after today people will see Qatar in a different light, for who we really are. It is time to talk positively about Qatar."

Cathal Kelly, columnist for Canada's national newspaper the Globe and Mail, summed up the distractions.

"Once the first ball is