Goodbye Russia! It’s time to get ready for Qatar World Cup 2022

Anilava Chatterjee, Moscow: Volunteers stood in a queue covering the entire distance from the Luzhniki Stadium to the Metro station. They are here not to “welcome” the guests but to bid goodbye now. The entire station was buzzing with the “Russia, Russia chants !” The whole world united as one to thank the Russian contingent as one by one  bid farewell. You don’t need to know anyone for thanksgiving. This a big fat family afterall. A Football family, where the Argentine fans can be seen carrying the wheel chair of the Brazilian fans and people from France and Russia came to bid farewell to them as well. The Red Square area was crowded by people. The same “Russia Russia” chants often reverberated throughout the area. In someplace else young people played random songs and got into the grove to dance. This night is all about the farewell night. The current situation can be compared to the aftermath of Vijay Dashami. At once the Fan park of Red Square was packed up with fans but now the only thing is left is the remains as prepations are made to take the whole thing down.




Nikolsky Square was still lit up with lights all around. For the past one month this very particular street was known as the World Cup street. Few Croatian fans were still there singing as they also prepare to return home. A handful of volunteers joined them for a dance. After a long one month it’s also time for them to say goodbye.

‘Spasibo Russia’, means Thankyou Russia. For the past one month this very two words were heard in every corner of this country. But now it’s time to bid adieu. Prosobe Russia. Goodbye Russia.

This particular World Cup will be a memorable one for Brazilian fan, Tomer. If the Russia World Cup made stars like Mbappe and Harry Kane at the same time a new star was also born by the name of Tomer Savaio.

The Brazilian fan came to Russia and gave an interview for a local channel. He used his own chosen words to praise the Russians. As a result Tomero became an internet sensation, his interview video has gone viral. No matter in which place he goes to in Russia, there are people all over him literally, craving for a selfie with the viral star. Even the on-duty police officers wanted a selfie with him. In a Kazan restaurant, the alarming increase of crowd forced him to flee from the back door. His popularity is easily understandable from the numerous number of people rooting for him. When he first came to this country, his Instagram followers were 2.5K. Currently it stands a total of 350K !




The whole matter was like a dream for Tomer. He said, “I am feeling great. It feels like as if I am in home”. As of now Tomer claims himself to be the captain of the Brazilian fan base. Along with that he made it loud and clear that when it to comes to cheering up their respective teams, the Brazilians are giving a stiff competition to the Argentines.




Even though it was a great success in organising the Russia World Cup, but the final match had to deal with a minor disruption. “They” invaded the pitch during the World Cup Final. “They” are 4. Three women and one man. All four of them have been sentenced to jail for 15 days by the Russian court and for the next 3 months, they’ll be prohibited from entering to any stadium. But who are these 4 people ? They are the members of the Russian band, Pussy Riot. This particular band had it’s own issues with the Putin government for a long time. Political freedom was one of the reasons for the Pussy Riot to revolt against Vladimir Putin. The members of the band were even arrested before as well. Now they choose the World Cup stage to protest against Putin. The match came to a halt, when they invaded the pitch. Shortly after the incident, Pussy Riots took to Twitter to take up the responsibility for invading the match.

It’s been said that even the Russian Police can render good behaviour, which was evident in the World Cup. But the problem is that as soon as the World Cup ends, they’ll get back to being themselves. That is why they invaded wearing the uniform of the Russian Police to also protest against the Police department as well.




The end of the Russia World Cup paved the way for the preparations of the Qatar World Cup. At one place they organised an exhibition, showcasing Pele, Maradona, Messi and Ronaldinho’s jersey along with boot exhibition. At one particular place there is a live kiosk and at another place there is a fan park set up by them, where the organising committee promoted the World Cup to be held in Qatar. The Qatar organising committee, in Moscow’s Gorky Park organised ‘Majlis Qatar’. They wanted to arrange the Bedouin tents, just like in the deserts of the Middle-East countries. The welcome board of the Majlis Qatar is installed right above river Moskova. Inside, a number of arrangements are made to showcase it to all the visiting fans and make them aware of the 2022 World Cup. Gruel Gholam, chief of the Organising Media Committee has assured that all kind of provisions will be made to look after the well being of the all the football fans of the world in the city of Doha.




The organisers of the Majlis Qatar tried to give a glimpse of the social and cultural ways of the country. Few concerns have risen among the football lovers regarding Qatar, that will an ardently strict Muslim country and it’s memorandum affect the sincerity of the fans coming from different cultures and countries ?




FIFA President Infantino also visited Majlis Qatar. He has praised the initiative taken up by the Qatari people. Around 180 members of the Qatar Committee has come to Moscow so that they can get used to in paper work when the World Cup gets rolling. The Organisers breathed a sigh of relief when the 2022 World Cup was postponed to the month of November-December. Apart from that Gruel has announced that Qatar is ready to beat the heat with Air-Conditioned stadiums.