Greatest show on earth is here, but don't lose sight of the true cost of Qatar 2022

CONSTRUCTION workers from Bangladesh and Nepal frantically complete last-minute snagging in intense heat; drained players race to be ready for their opening game; WAGs adjust to life on a luxury cruise ship; and fans from across the globe descend on a desert state smaller than London.

- Dan Kilpatrick

The World Cup finally gets under way when hosts Qatar face Ecuador on Sunday, and the hope from organisers is that the football will, at long last, become the only talking point.

FIFA have already issued a diktat to competing nations to “now focus on football” and banned supporters from displaying political messages at matches. Qatar has form for limiting its citizens’ freedom of speech, and FIFA and the Supreme Committee would surely love to gag even those outside their dominion from uttering another word about the many damning controversies that make this the most compromised World Cup ever.

Inevitably, once the matches start to come thick and fast, FIFA and Qatar will get their way to some extent, as the wider context of death, corruption and oppression recedes, to be replaced by superstars, corporate glitz and controversy of altogether more vanilla kind. The first moment of Messi magic or VAR madness will push the plight of migrant workers down the agenda.