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DOHA, Qatar - The men grappled with each other to board the quickly filling bus. Others wriggled in through the windows, scaling the outside, using the large wheels as footholds and leaving scuff-marks on the white exterior with their shoes.These werent refugees fleeing disaster. They were migrant workers in 2022 World Cup host Qatar, fighting to earn a few dollars. The job: Pretend to be a sports fan.Qataris boast theyre mad for sports. The ruling emir of the oil-and-gas rich Gulf nation is so fond of football he bought Paris Saint-Germain, now Frances powerhouse team. Lobbying World Cup organizer FIFA in 2010, his royal mother said: For us, football is not just a mere game or a sport among many. It is THE sport.Pitching successfully in November to track and fields governing body to host its world championships in 2019, Qatar bid presenter Aphrodite Moschoudi said: Qatar has a true passion for sports. Everything in our country revolves around sport.Or, when passion is lacking, around money.When the worlds second-richest people per capita cant find time or be bothered to fill their sports arenas, migrant workers are paid to take their place.Thirty Qatar riyals — equivalent to $8 — wont buy a beer in the luxury waterside hotel in Doha, the capital, where Qatari movers-and-shakers unwind. But for this pittance, workers from Africa and Asia sprint under blinding sun in the Doha industrial zone where theyre housed and surround a still-moving bus like bees on honey. They sit through volleyball, handball and football, applaud to order, do the wave with no enthusiasm and even dress up in white robes and head-scarves as Qataris, to plump up home crowds.The Associated Press squeezed aboard one of three buses that ferried about 150 workers, through dense traffic of luxury cars and past luxury villas theyll never be able to afford, to be fake fans at the Qatar Open of international beach volleyball in November.The FIVB, volleyballs governing body, trumpeted on its website that the tournament, part of its World Tour, brought out the crowds. But migrants from Ghana, Kenya, Nepal and elsewhere, who work in Qatar as bus and taxi drivers for the state-owned transport company and for other employers, told the AP they were there for money, not volleyball.Word of payment filtered around their crowded dormitories. At 2:30 p.m., clumps of men on their off-day gathered outside, inhaling dust stirred up by passing forklifts and trucks.Someone spotted the first bus far down the street that cuts through the bleak-scape of construction and piled dirt. The bus filled instantly. A second and third bus — and more frantic scrambling — followed.Breathing heavily, men squeezed into seats, three on one side of the aisle, two on the other. There were no safety belts and the ceiling fans didnt turn. One man without a seat squatted on the floor. To shouts of get down! he made himself small when a policeman was spotted on the journey.One by one, from memory, the men reeled off their employee numbers — no names — to a man who methodically shuffled down the aisle, jotting down the details on a crumpled piece of paper. This ensured hed later know who to pay, workers said.At the Al Gharafa Sports Club, we disembarked and formed a line. An official in Qatari robes counted us in, with taps on the shoulder. French volleyballers Edouard Rowlandson and Youssef Krou were winning their bronze-medal match as we filled seats, making the arena appear almost full.Bizarre, Rowlandson said when told of the hired spectators. But we prefer that to playing in front of nobody.Ahmed al-Sheebani, executive secretary of the Qatar Volleyball Association, rebuffed the APs questions, reaching over to switch off this reporters voice recorder.Reached later by phone, FIVB media director Richard Baker thanked the AP for making it aware of the fake fans and said the federation will seek clarification from Qatari organizers.Its news to us, he said.But not to Qatars government. A survey of 1,079 Qatar residents published this January by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics suggested that paid fans may be turning Qataris off sport. The ministry said two-thirds of Qataris surveyed did not attend any football matches during the previous season and two-thirds of respondents cited the spread of paid fans as a significant reason keeping audiences away.At the volleyball, some for-hire spectators were offered less than others. Security guards and office boys from Kenya said a promise of 20 riyals ($5.50) each drew 40 people onto their bus. A Nigerian manservant said he, too, was getting just 20.Numerous workers said they regularly make up numbers at sports events. Qatar league football games pay 20 or 25 riyals, they said. A Kenyan said he made 50 riyals at handball.An added bonus: the volleyball arena had free Wi-Fi, allowing workers to get news and emails from home. They pulled out smartphones, ignoring a crowd organizer waving a plastic hand who urged them to clap to Daft Punks Get Lucky.Thirty riyals buys food for three days when youre eating just once a day to save money for families back home, workers said. And watching sports, some said, is less tedious than whiling away off-duty hours in Dohas back-of-beyond industrial zone.Shaking my body all over ... being in the crowd and shouting and dancing was great fun for Adu, a trainee bus driver from Ghana who gave just his first name.Being there and getting paid is a plus for me.Afterward, the transport company workers waited nearly three hours in the dark, on barren land near the arena, for return buses. Contacted separately later by phone, three of them confirmed they got 30 riyals each in cash, either on the bus back or in their dormitories.On an hourly basis, that came out at just over $1 per hour.___John Leicester can be followed at www.twitter.com/JohnLeicester Air Jordan 6 Nz Sale . Joakim Nordstrom and Garret Ross also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford made 30 saves. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Red Wings (2-3-0), Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and Gustav Nyquist had three assists. Cheap Air Jordan 6 Nz . He still wanted out. "It just seemed like the direction they were going didnt fit what I thought my career was going to be," Kesler said. "At the end of the day I want to win a championship and I want to win it now, and four years is a little too long for me. http://www.airjordan6nz.com/ . On Saturday night, Winnipegs strong offense was again accompanied by some fantastic pitching which gave the Fish a commanding victory. Air Jordan 6 Nz Online . The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league hasnt announced the award. Crawford was the Clippers third-leading scorer and the NBAs top-scoring reserve with 18. Authentic Jordans Shoes Wholesale . -- David Price didnt think he would be in Port Charlotte this spring.ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- For six games, the Hamilton Bulldogs got the best of low-scoring encounters. Their luck ran out Saturday. Instead, Nathan Lieuwen kept his team within striking distance with 34 saves as the Rochester Americans defeated the Bulldogs 3-1 to end Hamiltons longest winning streak of the season. "We need the killer instinct there to get the second goal," said Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre of his teams effort. "We let (Rochester) stay in the game too long, and we paid for it." Johan Larsson scored the winner at 10:01 of the third period for the Americans (15-14-6), who avenged a loss to the Bulldogs on Friday, while Brandon MacLean and Luke Adam also scored. Greg Pateryn had the lone goal for the Bulldogs (18-15-4), while Robert Mayer stopped 25 shots. Saturdays game marked the first start for Mayer since returning to the Bulldogs from a loan spell with Swiss team Geneve-Servette, with whom he won the Spengler Cup. His team eased him back into the role, playing a quality first period in which Mayer faced just five shots and was not seriously tested. The Bulldogs enjoyed the majority of the offensive pressure in the first, and opened the scoring after MacLean was whistled for hooking at 9:42. Just 16 seconds into the ensuing power play, Christian Thomas shifted the puck to Pateryn on the blue-line, and the defenceman released a low shot that passed through traffic and beat Lieuwen cleanly at the near post. Hamilton appeared well in control of the game midway through the second period, until being pinned inside their zone for an extended shift. Desperate to clear the puck, Thomas instead lifted it over the glass and was called for delay of game at 13:18. Pateryn downpllayed the episode, and argued that his team had overcome similar situations this season.dddddddddddd "Weve been able to handle some adversity through these last few games, and if we were playing well, we would have gotten out of that," he said. "Things like that happen sometimes, but you have to find a way to break out of it." The Americans appeared to seize momentum and, while the Bulldogs successfully killed off the ensuing penalty, Rochester levelled game at a goal apiece at 16:36. Mayer turned aside an initial rush led by American centre Kevin Sundher, but the loose puck bounced to Chad Ruhwedel in the high slot and his heavy slapshot was tipped in by MacLean at the far post. The goal was MacLeans first in the AHL. Hamilton was made to regret a missed opportunity midway through the third period, when Maxime Macenauer sprung a 2-on-1 rush with Louis Leblanc and elected to shoot, with Lieuwen knocking aside the attempt with his shoulder. Seconds later, Rochester took the lead when Adam side-stepped a defender and slid a cross-ice pass to Larsson, who fired a low wrist shot past the sprawling Mayer and inside the near post at 10:01. Adam added an insurance goal, and his second point of the period, into the empty net at 19:01. Lefebvre argued that his team suffered from a disjointed game on Saturday, and hoped that his group would return to the cohesive style that had seen it win six previous games. "Its been an overall team game for us during the streak, and I dont think we did that as well tonight," said Lefebvre. "We played very well for a very long time there, and we just have to remember what made us successful and get back at it again tomorrow." ' ' '