AThe propaganda begins at seat 25A on the plane. A white cushion is already waiting where you are supposed to sit for the next few hours on this Thursday, when the Doha business trip starts. With sponsor lettering (Qatar 2022 and Qatar Airways) and sponsor slogan: “football is passion”. Football is passion.
As a discerning World Cup reporter, you immediately ask yourself: Can you snuggle up on this pillow? What do the German fans in row 24 think, jokingly (?) discussing whether they want to create an Instagram account for their little World Cup trophy, nicknamed “Walter, the World Champion”? They don’t snuggle. Okay, no pillow then.
But finally get to the entertainment program. A new section appears next to “Entertainment” on the start page: “FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022”. Fine, but only because it’s the business trip. You can find several films there. The first attempt: “Introducing Gianni Infantino”. In a 13-minute monologue, the FIFA President explains why the World Cup in Qatar is “the biggest event [wird]that mankind has seen”.
Fast forward to the second: “David Beckham’s Qatar Stopover”. In it, the former soccer player says he just woke up in Qatar, which always makes him happy. Unfortunately, he doesn’t say he’s getting an estimated $200 million from World Cup organizers for such sentences.
Alright, enough propaganda. And in the “Entertainment” section, there is at least the right film for the rest of the flight: “The Bad Guys”. The German title: The Gangster Gang.
