The Great Heist

Prologue

All the world was here in Qatar.

Most notably in Lusail—a coastal city in the southern municipality of Al-Daayen—and approximately twenty-three kilometers north of the city center of Doha.

For three weeks on, the planned city had witnessed and recorded the biggest influx of people arriving in the city proper and the country as a whole. Hence, leading to an upward surge in the number of people in the city from roughly 450,000 to about 600,000. This among other things, had spurred city officials and the Qatari government into taking necessary actions to make stopgap plans to create more accommodations and breathing space within the city—which was initially proposed to have the infrastructure to accommodate a mere 400,000 people.

Today was no different, either. Despite the nippy climate of late December, the traffic on this Sunday evening on all major freeways, thoroughfares, and causeways throughout the city of Lusail was heavy and near-congested. The lightest and most accessible traffic available only at the tramways and the Metros.

The ironic fact about all these, however, is, that the sudden rise in the tide of vehicles and human traffic through the city of Lusail has nothing to do with the ongoing Qatar National Day—a national festival celebrated annually on every eighteenth of December throughout the state of Qatar. But rather from the great event slated for the same day.

The literal storm center was the Sports District and the ten-acre-long premise around its main attraction—The Lusail Iconic Stadium, where a crowd of football fans pressed along a concourse toward the stadium in large waves. The fans, dressed either in their favorite jerseys and long overcoats or combinations of both with shawls have traveled from every part of the world into the district through the Lusail LRT and the Doha metro, to watch the biggest showdown on earth which was about to go down within the hour.

Taking center stage in the district, like a ghost ship lost at sea was the 80, 000-capacity Lusail Arena. Its sleek shape and intricate details, a subtle homage to the svelte bodies of the belly dancers known to the Middle East region; as it is also a huge reminiscent of the art’s motifs found in art pieces and decorative wares across the Arabian world.

The ultra-modern stadium built by the British firm Foster + Partners and Populous, and inspired by the dhow—a lateen-rigged sailing vessel— common and famous to the region around the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean is a step change from conventional architectural designs and methodologies with the remarkable application of light and shadow which gave its golden exterior a muted glow and rare metallic luster even in the thick snow flurry. This fact is made more apparent by the way its bold body doubled over in flawless asymmetrical and undulating trims, like a coiled giant King Cobra. 

From inside this giant architectural masterpiece, which seemed to be gliding over unseen waters from a distance—a mere illusory effect created by the reflective pool of water and moat surrounding it—rose the blast of music and the explosive report of fireworks. The fireworks in their dazzling spherical confetti showers shoot forth from the muzzles of mortars erected around its slopping, retractable cable-membrane roof, as the closing ceremony of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup gets on the way.

Performing live on the big sheet, which covered the length of the natural grass of the pitch and bore the figure 8—or, the infinite symbol— which was the official emblem of the competition alongside a company of dancers and performers was an artist ensemble of Davido, Trinidad Cardona and AISHA—all part of a new movement of young, talented artists making their break on the international music scene.

Aisha, garbed in a flowing sequined, gossamery gown filled the stadium and the two-mile radius of it with her sonorous voice. She glided across the scene, like water on rock between American singer; Trinidad Cardona, dressed in a white Thawb topped with a Keffiyeh, and Nigerian Afrobeats superstar: Davido, who on the other hand was dressed in the unflawed combinations of Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers and sweatsuits.