Free hotels, tickets and allowance: World Cup organisers recruit fans to sing Qatar's praise

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.

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 in a room, said organisers. They will also receive 68 US dollars daily on a preloaded Visa card.

In return, they will be expected to liven up the opening ceremony and sign a code of conduct.