Moving the goalposts: Qatar's tarnished WC too big for brands to boycott

There’s already never been a World Cup quite like Qatar 2022 before a ball has even been kicked.

Human rights groups are in uproar over everything from the treatment of LGBTQ people in a country where homosexuality is illegal to the deaths of construction workers building the stadia. Organiser FIFA is recovering from corruption scandals that cast aspersions on how Qatar was awarded the competition to begin with. Erstwhile FIFA chief Sepp Blatter said he regretted that the Gulf country was picked as host.

But for all the handwringing over the quadrennial tournament, the World Cup could still attract 5