A World Cup volunteer narrowly avoided a serious injury ahead of the tournament kicking off as a light fixture fell from the ceiling at the media centre in Qatar.
The tournament kicked off in earnest on Sunday evening with the hosts falling to a 2-0 defeat to South American side Ecuador. Former West Ham and Everton striker Enner Valencia was twice on the scoresheet to secure a perfect start for his nation.
His evening ended on somewhat of a sour note though having been withdrawn in the second half with injury following a number of heavy challenges from the Qatari defence.
Whilst he was disappointed to have been withdrawn with a problem, the first injury of the tournament could have occurred sometime before kick-off at the Al-Bayt Stadium with a concerning incident at the media centre in Doha. Both the USA and Wales held press conferences at the centre on Sunday ahead of their Group B meeting on Monday.
During the interval between the two, a weighty section of a light fixture broke from the ceiling and hit the floor with a crashing thud. It narrowly missed a FIFA volunteer - the individual avoiding what would have been an extremely serious injury should they have been hit.
The incident at the media centre is just the latest in an ever-growing list of incidents both before the tournament kicked off and during. Danish network TV2 were challenged by a group last week whilst they were producing a piece. The footage of the incident went viral with tournament organisers being forced to apologise.
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That was then followed by Argentine journalist Dominique Metzger having items stolen from her handbag during a live broadcast from the Corniche area of Doha. She reported the robbery to local police but was then taken aback after being asked what punishment she would like handed to the culprit should they be identified by the Qatari authorities.
In the meantime, there was also an extremely scary incident at the FIFA Fan Festival ahead of Qatar's opening showdown with Ecuador. Thousands of supporters had pushed and shoved against police lines to enter a secure area as the game got underway.
Helmeted police officers armed with batons and shields were drafted in to stand guard at the entrance, with shoving then breaking out as crushed fans begged to enter the zone. It wasn’t clear if anyone was injured or arrested. Similar problems were reported on Saturday night at a pre-World Cup concert as people tried to push their way inside the same six-mile-long zone on Doha's seafront Corniche.
