Can Iran Tap Into Qatar’s World Cup And Tempt Fans To Visit?

With six months to go until the first football World Cup to be held in the Middle East kicks off, the slate of countries due to take part is almost complete.

Among the opening rounds of games, Iran will take on the U.S. and England in Group B. For Iran, which has never progressed out of the group stages in its five previous appearances at the tournament, the event is not just a sporting contest, though, it is also an economic opportunity.

The World Cup – which vies with the Olympics for the title of the world’s biggest sporting event – will take place in eight stadiums in Qatar, most of them newly built and clustered in and around the capital Doha, from November 21 to December 18.

Around 1.5 million people are expected to descend on the small Gulf state and Iran is hoping that some of these fans will either use nearby Iranian islands as a base or add a side trip to Iran while they’re in the region.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has set up a group to oversee cooperation among government bodies trying to make the most of the opportunity and has said “Iran is ready to provide Qatar with whatever assistance and help it needs.”

Iranian roads minister Rostam Ghasemi has talked about hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to Iran. In April he said “We are now planning to create the grounds for foreign fans and tourists to travel to Iran during their leisure times to visit our country’s attractions as well.”

A passenger ship has been bought from France, ready to ferry up to 1,700 passengers at a time between Qatar and Iran. One tourism ministry official predicted that “Undoubtedly, tourist arrivals from Qatar will increase through the use of this ship.”

One of the nearest Iranian ports, Bushehr (also close to the controversial nuclear power plant) has upgraded its facilities in the expectation of greater volumes of traffic.

Another area hoping for more visitors is the island of Kish, which lies just 40 minutes from Qatar by plane, or six hours by boat.

Iran has also talked about offering free visas on arrival to anyone visiting Qatar for the World Cup who adds on a trip to the Islamic Republic.

Diplomatic Doha

Wealthy Qatar has little need for outside assistance, but it has still been careful to appear grateful for the offers of help from Iran, with which it has relatively good relations.

Qatar’s ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani visited Tehran on May 12, mainly to discuss the possible revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, but Iranian media reported that he also told Iran’s first vice-president Mohammad Mokhber that Doha welcomed Tehran’s offer to cooperate on the World Cup.

Qatar has said it has enough accommodation in place to house all the visiting fans, but it has given some encouragement to Iran’s hopes of tapping into the potential of the event. Qatar’s minister of transport and communications Jassim bin Saif al-Sulaiti visited Kish island in April where he said “One of the important issues for cooperation between Iran and Qatar is the issue of the World Cup.”

However, it is doubtful how much benefit Iran can glean from the tournament, given its poor reputation in many of the countries that will be competing. To many, the country is seen as authoritarian and repressive and it often makes the headlines for taking foreign nationals as hostages. The fact that alcohol is largely illegal will also not sit well with many football fans.

The Tehran authorities reacted badly to a recent piece in the London Times newspaper which drew attention to, among other things, the pepper-spraying of female football fans who tried to attend a football match.

As a result, other nearby countries with a stronger track record as holiday destinations may have more success in tempting football fans to visit, as football’s world governing body FIFA has itself suggested.

“There will be accommodation for everyone who wants to stay in Qatar, but maybe somebody then wants to make a day in Dubai or Abu Dubai or Muscat or Riyadh or Jeddah or whatever in the region,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently told Reuters. “That is certainly what we also recommend, because I think one of the biggest experiences in this particular World Cup… is an opportunity for people to come to a country and a part of the world that they maybe do not know.”