Robert Mogielnicki

This week global banking elites attend the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, a focal point of Saudi Arabia's economic reforms, as the country's the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is bankrolling the transition:

Saudi Aramco reported yesterday that profits jumped 46 percent last year, highlighting how a surge in oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine spurred growth in the world's biggest crude exporter.

With deluxe match packages selling for thousands of dollars and five-star hotels doing a brisk trade, a sheen of glamour coats Qatar's World Cup despite football's working-class roots.

A penchant for luxury in the energy-rich Gulf state, which has one of the world's highest GDPs per head, has rubbed off on an unusually high-end edition of a tournament for the masses.