Not all of Qatar’s attempts to appear larger than it actually is are violent, sometimes what the ministate does is hilarious. Qatar buys and naturalizes sportspersons from all over the world to represent its name and win medals, even if they don’t know Arabic or share the same hopes and dreams with Qatar’s people.
Qatar’s national under-20 football team reached the final match in the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship, defeating England and Brazil, only to be beaten by the mighty West Germany. Back then, Qatar’s team included Qatari players, and they performed well. This changed when the naturalization policy was implemented to sideline the sons and daughters of Qatar, turning Qatar into the laughing stock of the sports world. Now, all of their national teams are mostly made up of naturalized sportspersons.
This policy was set in motion by Hamad bin Khalifa and strengthened by Tamim bin Hamad.
Qatari people have expressed their anger over giving foreign players, who can’t recite the national anthem, priority over Qatari citizens.
Qatar’s football national team currently contains 12 players who were naturalized only to play for the team. Great results and victories were expected but their performance came very disappointing. They couldn't reach the World Cup finals or win the Asian Cup despite hosting it, which made Qataris even more livid.
And their chances of reaching the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia are dim.
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