“Theft of heritage”.. FIFA removes a promotional image for the World Cup 2022

Social media in Morocco have sparked irritation after Qatar 2022 World Cup page published a promotional image designed by Qatar to promote the World Cup including an image of a Moroccan architectural heritage, which caused Moroccans to consider it a robbery and theft of Moroccan legacy.

• Demands to transfer the 2022 Men’s FIFA World Cup tournament from Qatar to another country
• Details of Qatar’s “black” sports history

سبحان الله بقدرة قادر أصبح ضريح محمد الخامس يتواجد بالدوحة بدلا من الرباط و يمثل دولة قطر ? دول منعدمة التاريخ أصبحت تتطاول على تقاليدنا و معمارنا و تنسبه لها و هذا لا يمكن أن نسمح به . الصورة من صفحة كأس العالم فيفا الرسمية و منشوراتها المتعلقة بالترويج لكأس العالم #FIFA pic.twitter.com/KYJniCRKyu

— Abdel Addo (@Abdel_Amazighi) November 26, 2021

The image, posted on the official page of the Qatar World Cup, shows football stars standing in front of a door with the slogan “Qatar 2022″ waiting for it to open. According to users, the background belongs to the door of the mausoleum of Mohammed V, the grandfather of the current Moroccan king, Mohammed VI in Rabat, which was amended and presented as a Qatari heritage, which sparked their anger.

The image went viral on social media in Morocco, with activists expressing their displeasure at what they called “the theft of their heritage”.

Morocco’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Communication, Mehdi Bensaid, responded to the Angry People’s Campaign in his country, and in turn reached out to the President of the Royal Moroccan Football University, Fouzi Lakjaa, a member of FIFA, to address the matter immediately. Lekjaa contacted FIFA, which responded immediately to the request of Moroccan officials, and had to remove the image that Qatar had designed immediately, as confirmed by Le Site Info.

This is not the first event in the history of Qatari rogue practices, which cast a shadow over the upcoming 2022 World Cup. It has sparked wide criticism of Doha over the past decade, especially in light of violations of workers’ rights and intellectual property rights.

A year ago, Spanish newspapers reported that Doha stole designs for street light bulbs designed by a Spanish engineer and deprived him of his material and moral dues after stealing his designs for the project, which Doha implemented without the engineer afterwards.

Dozens of international investigations and reports revealed that Qatar practiced corruption and bribery in order to win the 2022 World Cup, which affected FIFA officials themselves. Investigations are still ongoing to uncover more incidents of corruption that Doha has practiced in international forums.

Moreover, the construction of World Cup clubs in the small Emirate has been accompanied by abuses against migrant workers, such as the denial of their salaries, forced labor and the Kafala system which has not ended, ensuring that these laws are nothing more than “ink on paper”, as the British newspaper “The Guardian” reported.