The American newspaper The Athletic monitored the experience of women in the World Cup in Qatar, highlighting that a number of them found in the World Cup Qatar an opportunity to safely and comfortably enjoy the World Cup matches and expressed their feeling of great comfort, in addition to their participation in activities and the exchange of ideas about different cultures.

The report said: Reem Al-Haddad, 23 years old, is a specialist in data, a photographer and a Muslim woman. During the World Cup, she and her brother stood in Souq Waqif, the popular market in Doha, with a banner that read: “Ask us anything about Qatar.” She came. The questions are thick and fast. There were so many that she enlisted her friends, both online and in person, to answer them, too.

The newspaper asked her: “Did you get paid to do this?” Reem replied that she was not paid for it.. She tried to direct people to others who might know more.. Her responses are explanations – many of which begin with the phrase “In Islam...” or “In Qatar...” - instead of expressing an opinion or judgment. “I feel like a lot of people are curious about a lot of things, but they think we won't answer or it would be strange to approach us all of a sudden, so having a sign really helps people feel welcome to reach out,” she says quietly. "I feel it's very important to answer these kinds of questions because all they hear is mostly from people who haven't lived here in Qatar," Reem said. "It's important to hear from the locals - not necessarily the Qataris but the people who live here."

The report continued: Reem was eleven years old when Qatar won hosting the 2022 World Cup in 2010.. Over the next 12 years, she became increasingly aware that the country had a "goal for development" in time to host the tournament.

She added, “Before the World Cup, we didn’t hear a lot of negative things but then, just before the World Cup started, we started hearing a lot of negative criticism. Conflicted on this issue because we certainly felt that everyone was against us .. It is a bad feeling ».

“I think it is very important to hear from the people who live here,” said Mehreen Fadl, a British Muslim from Wolverhampton who moved to Qatar with her husband and children two years ago. “Local voices need to be emphasized and we need a more honest picture of reality.” On the ground, I think the World Cup is a great opportunity we have for the world to see what Qatar really means.” She added "It is important to hear women's voices and get women's perspectives on sports and other issues to help change stereotypes or show that women play a vital role."

“I felt very comfortable, very welcome, it was amazing,” says Mehreen, who never felt able to attend a match when she lived in Wolverhampton, she watched it on TV, but in the World Cup Qatar I lived the magic of football."   

Mehreen said she wasn't particularly concerned about her physical safety - Qatar has a very low crime rate, and people leave their homes and cars unlocked all the time - and she felt very safe, even walking around late at night. In any case, she said, Doha is definitely safer than it was in London.

The crowd was very different from Euro 2020, and for example too.. the lack of alcoholic beverages inside the stadiums was a contributing factor of course, but the make-up of the crowd was also much more diverse, with a lot of women and children in the stadiums.