lecture at the Woolf Institute
Entitled ‘The Middle East’s first World Cup – a rebirth for La Convivencia through the power of sport?’
lecture at the Woolf Institute
‘Sport is unique in its potential to break down barriers, create friendships and enhance cultural understanding. No matter our creed, belief or nationality, sport touches on our passion and brings out the best of us as individuals and human beings. No other sport has the worldwide appeal that football possesses. No event has an extraordinary global reach comparable to the World Cup. No event has a larger television audience. In an increasingly globalised world, this is the world’s singular most global event.’
The words above served as an introduction to Hassan Al Thawadi’s address to the United Nations on February 16, 2016 and provide theoretical foundation for today’s lecture at the Woolf Institute entitled ‘The Middle East’s first World Cup – a rebirth for La Convivencia through the power of sport?’
The lecture will underline the importance of platforms that bring people together in a juncture of history where extreme rhetoric and those who propagate it appear to be gathering momentum. It will suggest that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has the potential to serve as such a platform – uniting peoples from various nationalities, backgrounds and faiths and showcasing the Middle East to the rest of the world in a manner that defies decades and centuries of stereotypes.