A teacher from Petts Wood told how he was ‘welcomed’ when he moved to Qatar from the UK and said the World Cup games have been a ‘party’ atmosphere even without alcohol.

Jamie Hughes taught in the UK before moving to Doha in Qatar in 2016, where he now lives with his wife and three children.

The 42-year-old is a head teacher at an international school, and admits that when he first arrived in Qatar, he knew little about the country.

But Jamie soon discovered what Qatar had to offer for him, his career and family – and is now enjoying being a spectator at World Cup matches.

Jamie has attended 12 of the matches and plans to go to a further 15 more with six-year-old son Henry.

He said games in Qatar have been different to other games he has attended before because fans are able to mix in a way they wouldn’t in the UK.

Jamie said he hopes the World Cup will continue the conversation around human rights, not just for Qatar, but on a global scale.

He added: “Initially I lived here for a stint in 2011-2014 before moving to China for work.

“When I first arrived, I just found it to be a warm and welcoming place.

“Eventually I returned to Qatar in 2016 and now I live here with my wife and three children."

Jamie said he had always wanted to teach internationally.

He added: "I didn’t really know too much about Qatar at the time other than they had been announced to host the World Cup.

“When I first arrived here there was a huge expat community with a lot of Brits living here, a lot of my friends had children at the time and there was a real family feel to the place.

“You get provided with healthcare and accommodation as well as a tax-free salary and it’s been a great opportunity to work, pay off my student loan and raise a family.”

Jamie has been an avid football fan since he started following Crystal Palace as a child.

Qatar has received criticism for its ban on alcohol in the stadiums - other than in corporate areas - but Jamie feels this doesn’t detract from the games.

Jamie said: “There’s a lot of noise in the UK about the lack of beer and alcohol in the stadiums.

“But I’ve been to 12 games and every single one of those games has been a real party, carnival atmosphere.

“The vibe is electric even without alcohol.

“You also have the fans mixing together which you don’t often get in UK stadiums and that’s been really nice to mix with people from different countries and learn about their cultures."

He added: “People assume that you can’t have a drink here, but that’s not the case.

“There are bars and drinking places in hotels and throughout the town, they are just not as sporadic as they are in the UK.

“You only need to look at the Euro finals in the UK and see the fights that happened between drunk fans to see the issues.

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“Football is why everyone is in Qatar and it’s a game that unites the world, that’s what the fans come for ultimately.”

Although Jamie said he enjoys the life he now lives in Qatar, he did admit that there are some drawbacks.

He said: “I miss the weather ironically and I miss summer evenings.

“Here in Qatar the sun sets at around 6pm, so you don’t get those lovely summer evenings here to enjoy.

“Family is another huge one for me, with the rest of my family still living in the UK, which is always a drawback for anyone living abroad.

“But I also miss the convenience about living in the UK and being able to get a train to a major city, compared to living in Qatar which is a small country.”

Since the World Cup began, questions have been raised about some of the ongoing human rights issues that have been brought to light since the World Cup began.

Particularly questions have been raised about the human rights of the LQBTQ+ community and migrant workers.

As a teacher, Jamie feels that it’s important that these conversations continue in a bid to improve human rights on a global scale.

He said: “Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen the media shed the spotlight on Qatar, that is still relatively young and evolving.

“I do think Qatar are working to put it right and putting their hands up to the mistakes they’ve made but I don’t think people are speaking on that.

“It’s raising a lot of questions around human rights, and I think this will be an ongoing conversation that should happen after the football has finished and beyond.

“As a teacher I teach my students about tolerance and acceptance and I hope that the World Cup helps all countries, not just Qatar, to continue to address any human rights issues they might have.

“I think if FIFA can help make the world a better place through football, no matter which country we’re talking about, then all the better for the world.”

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