Qatar promised to host the first carbon-neutral World Cup — but environmental experts doubt Doha's accounting toward that goal, and are calling for climate impacts to be front and center in deciding the location of future global sporting events.
Qatar, the world's largest producer of fossil fuel gas, made the vow when it bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup 12 years ago — but monitoring groups say the tournament hosts deserve a "yellow card" over the pledge as many emissions have been overlooked.
For instance, the country spent at least $229 billion on infrastructure development, including the construction of seven new football stadiums.