Irish Examiner View: Odd restrictions at 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Media outlets must agree to conditions if they are to obtain a permit to cover the World Cup in Qatar.

When the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar with a game between the hosts and Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on November 20, the whistle will shrill on one of the most controversial global football tournaments ever staged.

As kick-off beckons, Qatar has run into a new row over the ‘chilling’ effect of new regulations for media outlets covering the event, which prevent people being interviewed in their own homes, and the banning of filming at accommodation sites such as those catering for migrant workers, as well as recording at government buildings, universities, places of worship, hospitals, and businesses.