Khaberni writes an observer of both economic and sports affairs:
This article discusses the biggest and most difficult issue that no one knows or understands, defining success from failure, achievement from non-achievement, yet we've invented a circumstance more important than all of this. Survival
And here, survival is not from an enemy, but from something more dangerous: the consequences.
Let's start from where everything seems perfect: the government read an article and let me assume that the president read it. Then, the usual Jordanian managerial miracle happened: an immediate response.
Phone calls. Instructions. Follow-ups, documentation, actions.
And in less than 24 hours, the World Cup file was "under control"
Under control to the extent that it disappeared.
Next day's achievement: control was maintained, article was responded to with immediate actions and meetings
In the movie written by bureaucracy every day, there’s a constant scene that never changes where
the president reads something disturbing.
He moves the file.
And with it, an army of assistants moves, then ministers, then directors.
Then everything returns to calm as if nothing had happened.
The idea, for this team, is not to "achieve".
The idea is to appear as if you have achieved, because real achievement creates a simple question that no one likes: where is the impact?
And here exactly begins the black comedy:
Imagine telling the president: "We have completed the World Cup file."
The first logical question would be "What have you accomplished?"
This question is not made by the enemy. It is made by success.
World Cup as we previously wrote is not just a match. It is a global attention machine.
Five billion media interactions worldwide (according to FIFA 2022 data), nearly one and a half billion viewers for the final, and hundreds of millions of searches about the draw and the matches.
These aren’t just emotions. This is what the digital economy calls: Massive Earned Attention — attention that cannot easily be bought.
Then comes the most embarrassing part:
If you wanted to buy this attention through paid campaigns in Europe and North and South America, you would enter real figures:
Between 6–10 dollars per thousand, then repeat 5–8 times to create awareness, with multilingual content, and manage for 6–12 months.
The result: 300–400 million dinars at a minimum.
This figure is not only disturbing because it is large.
It disturbs because it makes the next question inevitable: well, where is the investment?
The draw: a moment where Jordan got "pure gold" then left it on the side of the road or in the backseat of a taxi
On December 5, 2025, Jordan entered a group including Argentina, Algeria, and Austria.
Three languages. Three markets. Over 100 million people.
And within 48 hours, search for "Jordan" increased in those countries.
A known behavior in Google Trends after major events.
In economic language, this isn't "hype".
This is digital currency ready to be cashed... provided you have an open window.
But here came the genius of the "Achievement Team":
To leave the window completely closed, then announce that the house is secure.
The technical question that reveals everything... and everyone
When millions of people searched for “Jordan” after the draw, there's one test that only those who understand the game pass:
What did they find?
•Did they find a platform linked to the World Cup?
•Did they find content that connects soccer with tourism?
•Did they find domains linking “World Cup” with “Jordan”?
•Did they find Landing Pages ready for search?
•Did they find SEO ready before and during the hype?
The answer, as stated in the article, is clear: No.
And here appears a new kind of "achievement":
To convince the president that “everything is under control” while the only control was to not let the president read a negative article.
And here comes the plot: the minister and the vice president are selling the president “an achievement” that is unmeasurable
Let's assume that the Minister of Tourism, along with Mohannad Shihadeh, the vice president, wants to protect the president.
How do they do that?
Not through achievement.
Achievements that leave a mark. But here, in the occasion of the World Cup, Mr. President, the impact might be measurable. It might be compared. Accountability might follow.
The real protection, Mr. President, in the school of bureaucracy, comes from one thing: the unmeasurable.
And here this theory will not succeed and you know why and what the World Cup means to those concerned with it
When you don't create a domain, you can't be asked about its ranking in searches.
When you don’t create a Landing Page, you can't be asked about conversions, bookings, and data.
When you don’t plan, no one can say: “Where did you implement?”
And thus, "Non-Achievement" becomes the greatest achievement:
Because it grants you a golden phrase at the end of any meeting:
“There is no evidence that we failed.”
The question everyone fears: If the opportunity is lost... who is accountable?
Here, the article moves from economics to the heart of the state:
If Jordan loses the World Cup investment opportunity, will those who did nothing be held accountable?
Or will we say that the conditions were tough, the region turbulent, and the challenges numerous... then it ends?
More dangerous than all of this:
Will the president be left alone in front of the public's question: Why was the opportunity lost?
While the team that "accomplished" didn’t leave anything measurable at all?
In systems that respect themselves, results are held accountable.
But in systems that protect themselves, audacity is held accountable.
The audacity here is to do something.
The conclusion that summarizes everything
There is an old school in survival that says:
“Pretend to be dead.”
But here it has turned into a full administrative doctrine:
Pretend to be dead so that the results don't feel you.
And the final result?
The World Cup file was “managed” successfully.
The file was closed.
The attention went.
And the opportunity passed.
And if anyone asks: “Why didn't you act?”
The perfect bureaucratic answer will come:
We did what we could with our capabilities, there's no money.
And here exactly we face the question that isn't funny:
If the achievement is surviving it
Then who protects the country from “survival”?
It's sad that the Crown Prince, Prince Ali, and above them His Majesty the King and the President tried with all their might to support Jordan through the team, but the responsible team with all its tools forcefully succeeded in destroying this effort
Audacity wasn’t in managing the file, but in arrogantly overseeing the destruction of all tools for its success during a critical time when we have no time or luxury, the World Cup is in five months and the preparations for it ended and we are still awaiting a bid or an offer or a miracle.
