Head about nine miles south-west of Doha and you reach the Industrial Area, a world away from the riches and luxuries of the main city.
An estimated 30,000 migrant labourers have been used in Qatar to work on World Cup projects. Many of those who have built the roads, hotels and stadiums have endured difficult living conditions here.
In 2016 Amnesty International accused the Qatari authorities of subjecting workers to forced labour, something the country’s government says it has acted on to ensure reform and to bring about “significant progress”.
In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid.
The number is based on figures provided by the countries' embassies in Qatar.
However, the Qatar government said the total was misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects.
The government said its accident records showed that between 2014 and 2020, there were 37 deaths among labourers at World Cup stadium construction sites, only three of which were "work related".
The Industrial Area was also home to a refugee camp used by about 70,000 Afghanistan nationals who ed through Qatar on special visas last year to escape the Taliban after the group took control of their country.
A nursery space was built overnight by Generation Amazing (GA) where parents were able to deal with paperwork relating to immigration while daily activities such as Arabic lessons and art workshops kept the children occupied.
Former England captain David Beckham, who is a Qatar 2022 ambassador, and heads of state have been some of the interested visitors to the compound.
The GA programme was devised by the Qatari government, which they describe as the human and social legacy programme for the World Cup.
They had a target of reaching one million beneficiaries before the start of the World Cup, encoming more than 30 countries including Brazil, India, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
GA programme director Nasser Al-Khori explains: “When we submitted the bid, a big portion of the presentation was around legacy. There was a lot of research done around previous countries that hosted World Cups.
“There was a lot of criticism and past countries didn’t take advantage of leaving long-lasting legacies. Qatar wanted to do it differently and that is why we created the legacy programme.”
Following all the controversies, a successful World Cup is crucial to the reputation of Qatar on the world stage in the eyes of their leaders.
Around 1.2m visitors are expected in the country during the tournament, which will add up to £14.7bn to the economy.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia could see an increase in Muslim pilgrims, while shuttle flights from Dubai and hotels in Kuwait and Bahrain have also been booked by ‘day-trippers’, adding to the business and tourism sector in the region.
Qatar has spent millions on new resorts, museums and art galleries as it looks to expand its tourism hub.
Hosting a major sporting event is nothing new to the country, having previously held the Fifa Club World Cup and an F1 Grand Prix for the first time last year, while annual tournaments from the ATP/WTA tennis, European Tour golf and Diamond League athletics also take place there.
So what plans are being put in place for the future once the World Cup circus rolls out of town?
“Qatar is booming in of sports,” says Dr Atef Maamri, Head of Sport at Qatar University. “There is a big health and sporting orientation from communities.” The country is “not suffering” from obesity or chronic diseases, he claims.
The impressive 2,000 acre university campus is home to about 16,000 male and female students - 2,000 of which are involved in the physical education and sports sciences zone.
“Change is coming from the roots,” says Maamri. “We will have specialists from the industry which will be able to manage sports facilities and lead sporting institutions. The graduates will have a deep knowledge and knowhow about the sector. Qatar University is a good example of how important sports education is.”
But not enough is being done in the country as a whole, according to Mustafa Qadri, the CEO of human rights charity Equidem who communicate with Qatari migrant workers on a daily basis.
“The reality with Qatar is that its image has not improved,” says Qadri. “If anything, there is more awareness than before about how bad the human rights situation is in the country.
“There is an opportunity for them to do the right thing by working with the international community and human rights organisations to address these issues as opposed to trying to suppress criticism and pretend having formal reforms is enough.”
In August, around 60 workers were deported from the country for protesting about unpaid wages, with some reportedly not paid for seven months.
The government said those who were deported had "breached security laws".
Qadri says around 20 to 30,000 more workers on temporary contracts will be flown in to Qatar for the World Cup but he has “major concerns”.
He says: “There are workers whose lives have improved over the last few years with better jobs, better living conditions and being paid on time to send money back to their families to improve their communities. But there are tens or hundreds of thousands of workers who are still suffering exploitation.
“Having spoken to thousands of workers over several years, they have a lot of pride that they are in a country where the World Cup is being held but there is a lot of sadness too that they won’t be able to enjoy it.
“I would like to see their legacy being that whatever their labour laws says, they are enforced. That workers are getting paid and have a job and life of dignity. When employers exploit them then they can organise collectively and do something about it and for it not to be a crime.
“And female workers should not be punished when they report any sort of harassment. Those are the changes we would like to see.
“The one thing we feel is really important is that as the world descends on Qatar, football teams, corporate sponsors, fans and media ask questions about what Qatar is going to do to address these issues.
“It is a crisis. People are suffering and the world will be watching. There is no hiding once the World Cup starts.”
And just 13 days before the start of the tournament, Blatter, the man who had pulled Qatar’s name out of an envelope all those years ago, said awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a "mistake".
As you approach West Bay, a huge neon sign next to the Sheraton – Doha’s oldest hotel – stands out. It reads, ‘Everything is going to be alright’.
After more than a decade of accusations and preparations, we are about to find out whether or not that is true.
