The World Cup of Shame: Why many groups are boycotting this year's tournament
Ryan Brolly
We are fast approaching the 2022 FIFA World Cup which, for the first time will be hosted from Western Asia in the state of Qatar with the hosts taking on Ecuador on November 20 to open this year’s festival of football.
This tournament has sparked controversy from the moment the decision to allow Qatar to host the tournament was made in 2010 due to a number of factors. Firstly, they were awarded the tournament through alleged bribery from the Qatar bid committee. Then reports from Amnesty International began to emerge about the construction of infrastructure for the tournament which make for grim reading, as they believe that there has been an abuse of migrant labour.
Finally for this piece but certainly not the last of a long list of issues, there are also the difficult social aspects of hosting a tournament that invites 31 other national teams and their fans from around the world, with many possessing differing social customs that may not be accepted in the state of Qatar.
This year’s winter World Cup is set to be the most unique tournament so far for numerous reasons
The first controversy mentioned is the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar which has now been labelled a “mistake” by ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter in 2014 in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS. There has been much speculation that Qatari state-run media outlet Al Jareeza had paid FIFA $400 million for broadcasting rights, $100 million of which was a bonus for allowing Qatar to host.
There was also controversy around the logistics of hosting in Qatar due to the climate. It can reach up to 50 degrees celsius during the summer, which is uncomfortable for players and spectators alike, forcing the entire footballing season into accommodating a tournament held during the winter to make playing conditions better to manage. This change of schedule, however, has created a congested start to the 2022/23 domestic season which could be attributed to the higher frequency of muscle injuries we have seen so far this season.
This World Cup has been seen as a sports washing exercise by many, that is a practice in which a regime will try and soften their poor global image by engaging with sport tournaments or by buying football clubs.
Before being awarded the World Cup, Qatar did not have the infrastructure necessary to host a tournament of this magnitude, so they had to work quickly to build the stadia before the 2022 deadline. This presented an opportunity for workers to go to Qatar from other countries and help get the nation prepared and make a good living in the process, however, this has become a nightmare for those who had made the journey to the gulf state.
It has been widely reported that workers have had their documents revoked making it so they could not leave the country. Payment for their work is said to be the equivalent to 99 pence an hour for a typical 48 hour working week and the shocking figures reported in a 2021 The Guardian article claimed that “More than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup 10 years ago.” Amnesty International have revealed that conditions for migrant workers are appalling and that they face threats and intimidation from bosses if they complain about said conditions, all while FIFA rakes in profits at their expense.
Many LGBTQ+ groups are staying away from this World Cup as homosexuality is a crime in Qatar.
Qatar has a generally appalling record on human rights, restricting many civil liberties. The most dangerous to those visiting the nation to support their national team is the outlawing of homosexuality, with those who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community at risk of imprisonment and systemic abuse at the hands of the Qatari security forces according to a Human Rights Watch report.
To protest this, England captain Harry Kane will wear the ‘one love’ armband as a show of solidarity to the LGBTQ+ community. This will also be done by eight other nations heading to the finals this month. Bloomberg reported that LGBTQ+ fan groups would be boycotting the tournament over the reasons listed. Qatari columnist Abdulla Alamadi responded to these reports in a now removed tweet saying, “we are looking forward to having a clean sporting event without homosexuals or troublemakers”, revealing the sort of ideas that are commonplace within the nation.
Overall, the controversies involved have forever tainted the reputation of FIFA and the World Cup in general. It is now viewed as a pawn in a power struggle, as something that can be awarded to a nation no matter how much misconduct, potential corruption and hate filled ideals are involved, truly making this a stain on the beautiful game.
Ryan Brolly is a History and International Relations student at Queen’s University Belfast and a Sport Reporter for The Scoop.