Fermanagh and Western Chairman, Neil Jardine was among the invited guests at the opening cermeony of the World Cup in Qatar.

Due to his role as First Deputy President of the IFA, Jardine was part of the Irish FA delegation that attended the opening ceremony and match as well as the two games on the opening Monday of the tourament.

“All 211 member associations of FIFA were there for the opening ceremony, and for the matches on the second day.

“I was there along with the President of the IFA and the Chief Executive,” said Jardine, who flew out on the Friday before returning on the Tuesday.

“Because you were going on behalf of FIFA, you flew business class, which is pretty good and when we arrived at Qatar airport we were the first people let off the plane and then there was somebody standing waiting for you, and they brought us into an executive lounge.

“They then sorted out the luggage and you were put into a vehicle to your hotel,” he added.

Jardine was due to attend the opening ceremony which was followed by the Qatar v Ecuador game to get the competition under way, although he says that there were ticketing issues on the day.

“There was a major issue with ticketing outside the stadium, and I missed the opening ceremony because my ticket wouldn’t download, and the same thing happened for the England v Iran match on the Monday, but FIFA were aware of the situation by that point.

“We were going into the VIP entrance and very senior FIFA officials took control and took us through,” he added.

The World Cup is being hosted in and around the Doha area, and Jardine felt that the compact nature of this is a benefit, although he does feel that the tournament has lacked in atmosphere.

“The only thing that I can say in its favour was the fact that it was so small and the grounds were concentrated all round Doha, but to counter that I wouldn’t have felt that there was the same atmosphere that there was at previous competitions.

“When we were in Nice in 2016 for the opening match, all that was there was Northern Ireland and Poland, and there was a great atmosphere and it was the same in Lyon for the second match, which was us and Ukraine.

“And when you went to Paris, there were loads of countries there, and everywhere you walked around, there was a great atmosphere.

“I didn’t find that with Qatar. Walking out on the Monday, I met plenty of English and Welsh fans, and you would have seen plenty of supporters of other countries, but I just didn’t see that carnival atmosphere, whether that was down to people being cautious or reticent or whatever,” he said.

In preparation for the tourament coming, a number of new stadiums were built in the Doha region, and on the whole Jardine felt that they were impressive.

“You would have to say that the stadiums were impressive.

“Khalifa International Stadium held England v Iran and is a lovely stadium, while the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, which held Wales v USA, was a class stadium because it was compact. It had the best atmosphere of the games we were at.

“The first match was Qatar v Ecuador at the opening ceremony, and that was at the Al Bayt Stadium, which was the one that was furthest out.

“It is literally in the middle of the desert and I didn’t particularly like it.

“Our seats were very good, but maybe it was because it was Qatar and Ecuador in that first match, there was no atmosphere, and the Qataris left at half time so the stadium was nearly empty at the end of the match.”

The awarding of the World Cup to Qatar has come in for a lot of criticism, and Jardine felt that there was a big push by Qatar to get the message out that every one was welcome.

“There was a bit of a charm offensive – you had all these messages dotted about, messages about inclusivity and everyone being welcome and how football brings everyone together.

“All the police vehicles had ‘Welcome to Qatar’ on the back of them. Everywhere you went you had this. It was as if, if they kept repeating it, people would believe it.”

Jardine also got to meet some famous footballing names during his visit.

“I nearly had a back four sorted out,” he laughed. “I met Roberto Carlos, and Cafu was there and Iker Casillas too. I was also chatting to Ian Rush at the Welsh match.”

So, what are his overall thoughts on the World Cup competition, to date?

“There was a lot of controversy over how it got to Qatar and all that, but you wanted – once you were there – for the football to take over, and it undoubtedly has.

“There have been probably better tournaments, football-wise, but as far as entertainment and the shocks, it has been fantastic.

“There has been plenty of drama, and still the final to come,” he concluded.

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