Among the remarkable things in the World Cup in Qatar is the resort of many foreign fans to wear the ghutra and the Qatari headband in the colors of their country's teams, wandering in the streets and attending them even in the stadiums.
To discuss the origin and purpose of the idea, we met Khalifa Abdul Hakim Al Nuaimi, the owner of the main shop selling the Qatari fans' headband. Al-Nuaimi owns a relatively small shop in the Souq Waqif metro station in central Doha, but despite the smallness of the store, it is very popular with foreign fans.
We asked Al-Nuaimi about the origin and purpose of the idea, and he said, "This idea aims to welcome foreign audiences in a positive way, and with some criticism leveled at Qatar, we wanted to rapprochement with visitors in this way and with open hands."
The fans of Mexico and Ecuador are the most popular fans of the Qatari agal in the tournament, and on the Arab level, Tunisian fans are the most buying of this Qatari dress.
Different uses of the Qatari agal
And if the goal of the owners of the idea of the Qatari agal in the colors of the participating teams is to introduce the Qatari culture, the goal of the fans in wearing it varies from one fan to another.
For Jean-Claude, a Frenchman in his sixties, the ghutra and the iqal are a way to protect his head from the hot sun during the day. He explained in a statement to DW Arabic, "The doctor advised me not to receive sunlight directly on my head due to health problems, and for this I found in this headband a suitable means of prevention."
As for an Argentine fan we met in the agal shop, he said, "It is a heritage and beautiful thing and a memory that I take with me to my country after the end of the tournament."
While others resort to wearing the Qatari headband for the World Cup, in order to draw attention in the stadiums and perhaps make the camera lenses focus on them because of their distinction. This was confirmed to us by a Moroccan fan who chose the headband in the colors of Morocco while attending the match between the Moroccan team and its Croatian counterpart.
It is noteworthy that in each edition of the World Cup, clothes inspired by the host country are spread, for example, foreign fans wore the Mexican hat in the 1986 edition, the clothes of bullfighters in Spain four years before, and the costumes of the Roman warriors in Italy four years later, and these fashions extended in other versions, in When the 2010 edition of South Africa was marked by the proliferation of vuvuzelas among fans.
Report from DW
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