By Jolaoso John
On Sunday 20th November 2022, prior to the opening match of the FIFA WORLD CUP 2022 between host country Qatar who has never played in any world cup and Ecuador, there was the opening ceremony to mark the start of this popular tournament in the Al Bayt stadium in the city of Al Khor, 3:30pm West African time. A flashy ceremony of unity with shows of fire works, sounds of drums, pop of different colours, swords display and most importantly a cheering crowd. As emotional as it could get, Mascots from previous world cups performed, and this performance included the Mascot of the 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP “La’eeb” an Arabic word which means super skilled player.
At the occasion, we had Hollywood talents and popular global award artists to entertain the cheering crowd. Oscar winner actor Morgan Freeman gave an emotional message of union with Qatari businessman Ghanim Al- Muftah. Popular BTS korean band member Jungkook performed song title Dreamers at the occasion and other popular WORLD CUP songs delivered includes “we are one” by Pitbull, “waka waka” by Shakira and “la lopa de la vida” ny Ricky Martin.
Marcel Desailly, world champion with France at the 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP at Luzhniki introduced the world cup trophy prior to the start of the first match in the Al Bayt stadium. Prominent World leaders also attended this grand ceremony and among them include King Abdullah II bin Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Representative of the Emir of the State of Kuwait Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah II, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Sultanate of Oman and Representative of the Sultan of Oman Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Caretaker Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon Najib Mikati, President of the Republic of Senegal Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Liberia George Weah, Vice President of the Republic of Ecuador Alfredo Borrero, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, Vice President of the Republic of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Delcy Eloina Rodriguez, FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
