Gatis Slukas. The World Cup has begun!

The 2022 FIFA World Cup final tournament has started in Qatar. Qatar is the first Arab country to host the FIFA World Cup. Qatar’s victory in the vote for whether to host the major tournament was once very ambiguous. Of the 22 FIFA members who took part in the vote in December 2010, 16 members were subsequently charged with corruption or other offences. The prize pool for this year’s World Cup finals is the largest in history – US$440 million. Media outlets estimated that Qatar invested $200 billion to host the tournament; in preparation for the championship, seven of the eight stadiums were built from scratch.