The Qatar World Cup 2022 is potentially the most controversial sporting event since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. A story that is so bizarre and complex, it has sent sport from the back pages, to the front pages, to the long-reads in the middle of newspapers.
Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022 will track the progress of the World Cup through the World Cup Diary series. A short podcast episode, one per day, covering news from the tournament both on and off the pitch. Followed by a more detailed in-depth look at the history of Qatar, the tournament and how those two collided.
Blood on the Sand is written, produced and performed by Adonis Storr (@theadelites on Twitter).
Cover Art was created with Daan (@DaanGraphics on Twitter and Instagram).
Music by WombatNoisesAudio (https://soundcloud.com/user-734462061) including the tracks The Legend of Narmer and Jewel Of Nekhen. Music was promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com and is used in conjunction with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US.
All content for Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022 is the property of Blood on the Sand and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
The Qatar World Cup 2022 is potentially the most controversial sporting event since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. A story that is so bizarre and complex, it has sent sport from the back pages, to the front pages, to the long-reads in the middle of newspapers.
Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022 will track the progress of the World Cup through the World Cup Diary series. A short podcast episode, one per day, covering news from the tournament both on and off the pitch. Followed by a more detailed in-depth look at the history of Qatar, the tournament and how those two collided.
Blood on the Sand is written, produced and performed by Adonis Storr (@theadelites on Twitter).
Cover Art was created with Daan (@DaanGraphics on Twitter and Instagram).
Music by WombatNoisesAudio (https://soundcloud.com/user-734462061) including the tracks The Legend of Narmer and Jewel Of Nekhen. Music was promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com and is used in conjunction with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US.
Day 6: Wales v Iran, Qatar v Senegal, Netherlands v Ecuador and England v USA
Day six began with the most emotionally charged game of the Finals so far. Wales v Iran. There was not the nerves of the opening fixture for either side as they lined up for the national anthems. Both teams knew this was their best chance at picking up points and progressing to the next round.
This felt like the game with the most genuine supporters from both sides too. Wales red wall group of supporters belted out "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" – meaning Land of my Fathers, with a roar befitting of their reputation as a nation of singers. They sang with hope, determination, expectation. There were tears in the eyes with the emotion. Back home, a thousand schools were taking breaks from lessons so children could watch the game.
The word Welsh means foreigner or slave in Old English and was the name given to native Brits by the Anglo-Saxons invaders 1,500 years ago. There's been a lot of talk recently of a vote for Scottish independence, but listen to any interview with Michael Sheen and you'll wonder why the movement for Welsh independence isn't stronger.
The word Cymry means fellow-countrymen and Cymru means land of compatriots. Surely, if it is the will of the Cymry to be called by these names, as has been indicated before the tournament, then the English speaking world giving them that respect, is the least that can be done.
Onto Iran then. And we speculated yesterday that the arrest of Iranian footballer, Voria Ghafouri, was a warning to the Iran National team at the World Cup. Ghafouri is one of three high profile Iranian footballers arrested this year, joining Parviz Boroumand, former national team goalkeeper, as well as as unconfirmed reports of the arrest of 26 year old right back Amir Nasr Azadani.
There was no silent protest this time, the players sang the anthem and they didn't look happy to be doing it at all. It was a mumble at best. Meanwhile in the crowd the reaction to the images of the players singing heightened the feeling. Boos and jeers rose up with more fervour this match.
The camera gave us close ups of Iranian fans sobbing uncontrollably. Has there ever been national anthems like this? Normally there is a mix of some players singing, some not, often the veterans looking to get it over with and get the game going. This was quite the opposite, I've never seen anything like it, truly unforgettable.
Among the crowd a women, with makeup of red tears coming from her eyes, held up an Iranian t-shirt with MAHSA AMINI and 22 on the back, in memory of the 22 year old who's death in the custody of the morality police, was the catalyst which has sparked renewed protests across the country.
A man next to her held a t-shirt up with the slogan “WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM”. They were led away by security officers.
They were one of the few protesters that got into the stadium with their anti-regime messages. The process for passing through security at this game took longer than any game so far, with 1000s missing kick-off still waiting to get into the ground.
There are reports that Qatar officials are working to stop any anti-regime protests from the Iranian supporters. And the evidence all points to that.
The game itself was as passionate as the mood. For most of the game it was scoreless, but not without drama, the action, often end-to-end, was borne of two teams knowing th...
Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022
The Qatar World Cup 2022 is potentially the most controversial sporting event since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. A story that is so bizarre and complex, it has sent sport from the back pages, to the front pages, to the long-reads in the middle of newspapers.
Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022 will track the progress of the World Cup through the World Cup Diary series. A short podcast episode, one per day, covering news from the tournament both on and off the pitch. Followed by a more detailed in-depth look at the history of Qatar, the tournament and how those two collided.
Blood on the Sand is written, produced and performed by Adonis Storr (@theadelites on Twitter).
Cover Art was created with Daan (@DaanGraphics on Twitter and Instagram).
Music by WombatNoisesAudio (https://soundcloud.com/user-734462061) including the tracks The Legend of Narmer and Jewel Of Nekhen. Music was promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com and is used in conjunction with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US.