Morgan Freeman spruiks Qatar as Western leaders boycott Olympic-style FIFA World Cup 2022 opening ceremony

Hollywood star Morgan Freeman has lent his famous voice to Qatar’s FIFA World Cup opening ceremony as Western leaders boycotted the event on Sunday.

Qatar’s Bedouin roots, embodied in a tent-shaped stadium, were on display as the country’s emir opened the tournament at a ceremony during which he kissed his father’s hand and welcomed the world to football’s showpiece, the first time it has been staged in the Middle East.

WATCH IN THE VIDEO ABOVE: Morgan Freeman spruiks Qatar at World Cup opening ceremony.

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“From Qatar, from the Arab world, I welcome everyone to the World Cup 2022,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said.

“How lovely it is that people can put aside what divides them to celebrate their diversity and what brings them together.”

Then, fireworks exploded from the roof of Al Bayt stadium, 44 km north of the capital, Doha.

Earlier, the nearly full stadium erupted in cheers when Sheikh Tamim arrived at the stadium flanked by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Tamim waved to the crowd and leaned down to kiss the hand of his father, former ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who abdicated in 2013, making way for his son.

Then the lights dimmed and three camels, dancers and a Qatari singer called “Dana”, who wore a traditional batola, a leather face-covering worn by some women in the Gulf region, filed onto the pitch.

American actor Morgan Freeman followed alongside Ghanim Al Muftah, a 20-year old Qatari man who was born with a rare condition that impairs the development of the lower spine.

Freeman, who was once the face of the USA’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup, sat on the pitch beside Al Muftah.

“How can so many countries, languages and cultures come together if only one way is accepted?” Freeman told the crowd.

“When you call here, we welcome you into our home,” Al Muftah said, referencing the “bayt al sha’ar” or tent that nomadic bedouins of the Arabian peninsula once used for shelter, which inspired the stadium design.

The ceremony featured video footage of Sheikh Tamim as a boy playing soccer in the desert, which seemed aimed at countering the argument made by Qatar’s critics that the Gulf Arab state has no soccer tradition.

Singer Jungkook of K-pop boy band BTS joined Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi to perform Dreamers, a new tournament song.

The opening of the tournament was the culmination of 12 years of preparations that have transformed Qatar and have also exposed it to a barrage of criticism including over human rights.

The Qatari royals sat alongside other Arab leaders in a show of regional solidarity, including Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, two leaders who had boycotted Qatar for years.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino sat with bin Salman at the first game, as he did at Russia 2018 alongside Vladimir Putin.

Not present in Al Kuyt on Sunday were the leaders of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, the two other nations involved in the boycott.

There were also no major Western leaders in attendance, as Qatar is under intense scrutiny for its treatment of the migrant workers who prepped the nation for the World Cup, as well as the LGBTQ community. Gay and lesbian sex is criminalised in Qatar.

Among those who did attend was United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The stage-managed calm inside the stadium contrasted with reports of chaos at the fan festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha.

The venue has a capacity of 40,000 but at least double that number of people tried to make their way in.