Runa Reta - WISPA Squash Pro on Tour on www.squashtalk.com

Qatar in the heart of the Persian Gulf

April 27 2005 — Before making my first trip to Qatar (about a year and a half ago), I spoke to a friend over instant messenger regarding my upcoming travels. The first question she asked me was “where is Qatar?” which naturally prompted me to tease and taunt her to the point where she eventually stopped responding to me. Several minutes later though, she came back with the response: “Ha! Middle East!”….turns out she had googled the country to find its whereabouts. In all fairness, I really shouldn’t have been making fun, for I too was guilty of looking up Qatar on a map (or what I like to call “double-checking”). But let’s face it, this tiny peninsular country had just not attracted much attention on the international level…that is, up until now.

In 1995, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani took over the state from his father, and perhaps, sensing his country’s relative anonymity in the world, decided to usher in a period of major reforms on all fronts. With the money acquired from Qatar’s vast oil reserves (second only to Russia), Sheikh Hamad has invested greatly in areas such as tourism and sport with the hopes of raising his nation’s international profile. How do I know all of this? Well for one, in our entry packages for the recent Qatar Airways Challenge, we received a plethora of touristy pamphlets, inviting us to “discover the Heart of the Arabian Gulf”, and explaining to us quite plainly that money was being pumped into this department (why we would be getting “invited” to visit Qatar while quite evidently already being there is unclear, but anyway…) Also, having been to this country several times now, it was impossible not to notice the frenzied pace of construction in the city; every time I return, there seems to be new buildings in places that were barren only a few months earlier.

New construction happening daily in Qatar (photo: Runa Reta)

Additionally, it is no secret to those who follow the world of sports in any degree of depth that Qatar is fast becoming recognized as a key destination for major sporting events in golf, tennis, sailing, power-boating, motorcar racing (to name a few) and of course, squash. Two of the biggest tournaments on the WISPA calendar in fact, take place in Doha: The Qatar Classic and the Qatar Airways Challenge.

The latter tournament, which just finished, had Qatar Airways paying for each individual player’s flight to the Challenge, thus exemplifying not only the country’s commitment to securing the top players’ appearances in their event, but more broadly, the seriousness with which the Qatari government wishes to become the world’s leading sports destination. And with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it is well-financed to achieve its goals. (It is also worthy of note that it is the first Middle Eastern nation to ever hold an Asian Games, which will take place next year in Doha).

Although the Qataris always put on a great event and treat the players impeccably, in the 4 times that I have been there now, I have struggled to come to terms with my environment there. Unlike any other place that I have visited before, Qatar has been one of the most difficult places to figure out both culturally and socially, primarily because it has a tendency to continuously throw you off with seemingly conflicting realities. For example, there is a huge array of fast-food restaurants/eateries right in front of our hotel to choose from: Appleby’s, Chili’s, Pizza Hut, TCBY, Dairy Queen, Little Caesar’s, Ponderosa’s, McDonalds, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks, etc, etc. This is extremely odd, not only in light of the fact that the supply for these fast-foods grossly outweighs the demand (after all, the entire population of the country amounts to less than 800,000) but more notably, in the stark contrast that exists between these obvious tokens of American culture with the strict Islamic principles that the locals adhere to here. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about the sight of a Qatari man, covered head to toe in a traditional white robe, sipping a vanilla malt on a swivel chair at Johnny Rockets seems rather unusual!

Another aspect that I have trouble understanding is what possesses the government to host two of the biggest womens events in this country. Aside from the fact that there is no grass-roots level of squash being played in Qatar, and no real fan-base, in a culture where women are expected to dawn traditional abayahs (full-length black robes with head coverings) one cannot help but feel extremely out of place, running around the squash court in skirts and tank tops (or what they probably equate to virtual nudity!) Although we may not be judged by the limited audiences at the squash venue, there is no doubt from the piercing gazes we receive while walking the streets that there are mixed feelings with respect to the role of women in society.

Natalie Grinham and some Qatari fans

It has taken me several trips to this Middle Eastern country to begin to understand everything that I have witnessed up until now, and this is what I have learned: that the seeming incongruities of this place are in fact the result of the encroachment of modernity on tradition. In the past 10 years, the Sheikh has moved rapidly and ambitiously to erect new buildings and make huge investments in a modern-day Qatar without necessarily waiting for society itself to digest these massive transformations.

And so, although it may seem odd for a nation to both consume Starbucks and identify with anti-Western rhetoric on their own controversial news network, Al-Jazeera, what is really unfolding is a nation’s first encounter with a different set of ideals (which will inevitably lead to a struggle to find a balance between old and new ideas and principles). It is a phenomenon that is common to many developing countries in this day and age, but one that is most fascinating in a place with such a deeply engraved and preserved culture (ie. Qatar still functions as a hereditary monarchy, with the same family having ruled for the past 150 years).

So what does this all mean for women and squash in Qatar then? Well, to illustrate, right now world-class events in womens squash are being played in Doha, yet it is still a reality to walk outside and be thoroughly gawked at by men who have literally not been exposed to ‘Western-dressed’ women up until now. With more exposure, the Qatari people will likely become more accustomed to such a sight, and perhaps opt for the brief glance over the open-jawed stare! And more significantly, eventually a greater acceptance of women in sport could very well be fostered with events such as the Classic and Challenge. This kind of result however takes time, simply because it requires a conscious change in deeply-held traditional beliefs.

Indeed, the role of women is only one of the many issues that Qataris will have to tackle and reassess in the coming years. And therein lies the major rub for countries like this that are trying to embrace a more global existence in the world. But don’t think for a minute that those in charge are not aware of the challenges that lay ahead; in a cd rom that was included in our entry package, the narrator remarks: “if you are seeking a world class destination where East meets West, where heritage and culture are deeply respected, yet where people have an exciting vision of the future, come and experience Qatar, the ‘Heart of the Arabian Gulf’”.

Qatar is poised to step out of the shadows of anonymity and make its impressive entrance onto the world-stage as a first class destination for business, leisure, education and sport. With an acute awareness of the need to balance the scales of modernity and tradition, Qatar will soon make its mark on the world in a unique way that will leave our days of googling and map-searching far behind. And as sportspeople, what else can we do but cheer their initiative, and hope that their sprawling ambitions continue to shine on the squash world too.

Qatar: Inteding to make it's mark on the world. (photo: Runa Reta)