World Cup fans could bring political tensions to quiet Qatar

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

Qatar is a devoutly apolitical place with speech and assembly heavily restricted and a large population of foreign workers who could lose their livelihoods if they cause a stir. But that could change next month when an estimated 1.2 million soccer fans descend on the tiny Gulf Arab nation for the World Cup. Authorities may face calls for labor rights, LGBTQ equality and other causes in the glare of an international spotlight like no other. They might also have to contend with public drunkenness and hooliganism in a conservative, Islamic country. Gas-rich Qatar has hosted other major sporting events in recent years but nothing on the scale of the World Cup.