Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has never seemed as isolated as he was at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Doha 2022, the ruler of the closest neighbor to the host country.

While top officials of Gulf, Arab and other countries from across the world were enjoying their time from the presidential seating area at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor city in Qatar watching the the opening ceremony show, the only chance for the King of Bahrain to experience all these brilliant moments of the most important football event in the world was through roaming on Bein Sport channels on his television in his palace, or he might have just turned the television off from anger.

All former parties of the Gulf crisis, the Saudi Crown Prince, the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and the Egyptian President, as well as the kings, presidents and crown princes of Kuwait, Algeria, Turkey, Jordan and others were there at the front rows of the global football event, except the King of Bahrain and the rest of his failing team. 

The King of Bahrain is reaping the natural result of the immoral policies in his rivalry and lack of consideration for the relationship bonds between the two countries and their interdependent peoples, or even diplomacy during the Gulf crisis. He came to this by accepting that his country be the headquarters of a Gulf military action that was planned to be carried out against Qatar had it not been for the intervention of the Emir of Kuwait, and the publishing of parts of correspondences between the former Qatari prime minister and the Bahraini opposition leader, portraying them as an "espionage case", noting that the former came to Bahrain at the invitation of the king himself to contribute to mediation. This was in addition to an attempt to sabotage the Al-Ula summit, which witnessed reconciliation and the closure of the Gulf crisis file, by sending a group of youths who work for the Interior Ministry to cross Qatari maritime borders to be arrested as sailors, when they were not. 

The world experienced half an hour of enjoyment during the opening ceremony, which was full of surprises and international stars, as it showed the Qatari and Arab traditions along with world cultures, focusing on rapprochement between peoples and overcoming differences through humanity, respect and inclusivity. Meanwhile, the arrogant ruler, who had just finished holding sham elections in which he replaced 100,000 of his own people with thousands of Pakistani nationals to vote all the way from Islamabad, sat alone in his palace without an invitation.

Arabic Version