As I said, I have no problem with the banning of alcohol per se. We ban weed, they ban alcohol, and Malta bans abortion even if the mother and the child will both die unless an abortion is performed. None are reasons to award or not award the world cup.
The problem is the reasoning (or lack there of) regarding the laws of such a country in general.
I doubt you'd have to put up with one of those ridiculous religious laws where you live, or you'd realise how destructive they are to a progressive thinker's well-being.
I personally find stuff like this in your report disturbing:
Citizenship derives solely from the father. Women do not transmit citizenship to their children, even if the child is born into wedlock in the country. A woman must obtain permission from authorities before marrying a foreign national
You also say that people in other countries should decide on what they do, but places like Qatar have a hereditary monarchy that does most decision making, and a council for which only 16% of the country's population are allowed to vote due to ethnic reasons.
I was born in a third world country, but I live in Canada. Here I can tell people what to do and they appreciate my view so long as it is a reasonable one. I am also a citizen of 2 OECD countries, and I welcome people from all walks of life to tell us how we should and we shouldn't be doing things as often as possible again, so long as the feedback is based on good reasoning.
I think it's racist to think that people in 'other countries' should be entitled to run dysfunctional authoritarian governments that hold them back from enlightenment, but you'd probably be horrified if a similar regime was imposed on your son or daughter. We have our fare share of inept corrupt authoritarian bigoted politicians in the western world, but at least we can stand up to them and their beliefs without landing in jail.
P.S. Once more, I'd like to reiterate that I wouldn't not give someone the world cup on this basis, I couldn't care less. I just think it's silly to suggest that their nonsensical laws shouldn't be questioned by those of us who know better, regardless of our origin/ethnicity/age/nationality.
