The grandly-named Qatar 2022 'Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy' (known in most places as the Organising Committee for the 2022 World Cup) overnight unveilied the emblem for the next World Cup tournament.
In a typical display of Qatar's wealth, the emblem was grandly projected onto buildings around the world – but not Australia.
Notably, the nations to miss out included 2022 competitors, Australia and Japan, and Qatar's geopolitical enemies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Also missing out are Qatar's allies, Iran.
Other nations in the Arab world to be graced with the maroon and silver stylised World Cup emblem are Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman and Tunisia.
In England, the emblem was displayed at two Westfield centres in London with suggestions that perhaps the 'Supreme Committee' was trying to troll Westfield's former owner, Frank Lowy.
Other landmarks included the ubiquitous Times Square on Broadway in Manhattan, the Arco della pace in Milan, Gare du Nord in Paris, Berlin railway station, the Metro Domination Sé Station in São Paulo and the Plaza del Callao in Madrid. Other cities to benefit from Qatar's generosity are Buenos Aires, Santiago, Mumbai, Mexico City, Moscow, Johannesburg and Seoul.
Turkey, a nation that has not made the World Cup since 2002, had the emblem displayed on screens across ten districts of Istanbul.
According to the creators of the emblem, the design depicts “an event that connects and engages the entire world” featuring Arab culture and football.
“The swooping curves of the emblem represent the undulations of desert dunes and the unbroken loop depicts both the number eight – a reminder of the eight astonishing stadiums that will host matches – and the infinity symbol, reflecting the interconnected nature of the event,” the official publicity continues.
The shape is stated to depict the World Cup trophy as well as a traditional shawl for the Arab and Gulf region. It's unclear when the weather is actually cold enough to warrant a shawl.
The font used in the emblem is a new one created especially for the tournament that “takes inspiration from the region and Asia fusing tradition with modernity”.
Some insiders have likened the emblem to looking like a python, a cobra, the pink ribbon (for breast cancer), the Catalan ribbon or a question mark.
“For me, it resembles a question mark and for me, the question remains … why is it still being held there?” asked one UK football insider.
In addition to 2022 bidders Australia and Japan, Qatar also ignored three other countries that took part in the tainted 2018/2022 World Cup bidding contest: Belgium, Holland and Portugal, which bid for 2018 only.