There is no reference to any Qatari sheikh in any of the FT posts. The only facts are the some pax got downgraded when families were in the J or F cabin.
The facts are:
QR overbooks cabins
Airlines will generally downgrade single pax and not individual members within a single party, especially a family.
these are the circumstances being described.
The assertion that rich 'Qatari sheikhs' will cause the OP to be downgraded is nonsense and an overreaction to a few cases on FT unrelated reports.
The above are blatant generalisations and have nothing to do with wasta, or influence. In fact in the cases of UA redemptions on QR where pax got downgraded they were non status pax on awards. We all know status and booking class are the determining factors with downgrades.
Hard to believe, but not all Emiratis are connected to the ruling families.