The 2022 World Cup is now underway in Qatar, and people around the world are tuning in to see their national teams compete on one of the biggest sporting stages in the world. The excitement here in Britain is palpable as two of our national teams complete for the top prize; England, a mainstay in World Cup tournaments, and Wales, who haven’t competed at this level since 1958.
As someone who is half English, half Welsh, I am finding myself more excited than usual for this tournament. I have never been particularly enthralled with football, but this is an occasion that someone of my heritage would be remiss not to take an interest in.
I write this article as I watch England play against Iran at my place of work, who have generously given us an extended lunch break to watch the proceedings. My colleagues and I watch with bated breath, cheering as the goals go in, exchanging predictions and recommendations of tactics as the game unfolds.
This atmosphere cannot be replicated under many other circumstances. The World Cup is such a unique competition in this regard, and has the ability to bring people together as few other events can.
Whilst the atmosphere and celebration of the World Cup should never be overshadowed by politics, and the sport should always come first, this competition is so mired in controversy that every conversation about the event is caveatted with the shady financial dealings and human rights abuses of the host nation.
Qatar was far from the best choice to host this event. The small, fossil fuel- rich Gulf state has never qualified for a World Cup tournament before, and is not known as a major, or even moderate footballing nation.
The challenges with hosting a summer sporting event in a desert country are self-explanatory, so much so that the tournament had to be postponed until the winter in order to avoid the oppressive heat of a Gulf summer.
The circumstances under which Qatar became host nations were dubious at best. FIFA has long been plagued by corruption allegations, and Qatar’s campaign to become 2022 hosts were a standout example of that alleged corruption. In 2010, voting members of the FIFA executive committee were allegedly bribed with millions of dollars by Qatari officials to vote for Qatar to host in 2022.
There have been numerous allegations to this effect by multiple individuals and whistleblowers, each of them denied by Qatari officials, saying that the allegations are driven by envious and mistrustful individuals only.
Qatar’s efforts in securing host status may be subject to debate, but the country’s abysmal record on human rights, especially in the lead-up to this tournament, is not.
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, as the country adheres to a form of Sharia Law. Any homosexual activity is punishable by up to seven years in prison, with reports of arbitrary detention for LGBTQ+ people, and sub-standard treatment whilst incarcerated.
LGBTQ+ fans from around the world have been hesitant to travel to Qatar to watch their teams play because of this, but FIFA has emphasised that Qatar will comply with existing FIFA tolerance rules, and international fans will not be discriminated against by Qatari officials. Rainbow flags will also be allowed inside stadiums.
The World Cup presents a unique opportunity for Qatar in this regard. With the eyes of the world on their nation, and with significant backlash and outcry at the country’s oppression of the LGBTQ+ community, there are those who hope that the international attention and scrutiny will pressure Qatar to stop their prohibition of gay rights, setting a progressive precedent for other Sharia Law Gulf states.
Perhaps the most egregious violation of human rights in Qatar has been their treatment of migrant workers building World Cup infrastructure. Thousands of workers have died in workplace accidents since Qatar was awarded the tournament. Although the exact numbers are not known, it is believed to be in the region of between six to seven thousand according to 2021 estimates from the Guardian, but it may well be higher.
Working conditions are reported to be horrendously unsafe, and living conditions unsanitary and overcrowded. Workers have been forced to endure these conditions under Qatar’s “Kafala” system, which opens migrant workers to systematic abuse and exploitation, including Qatari officials withholding worker’s passports and Visas, effectively rendering them illegal immigrants in Qatar. If they wanted their passports back, workers had to sign false statements saying they had received their wages when they hadn’t.
Wages have been withheld from workers for months at a time, effectively amounting to the use of slave labour in Qatar. When workers raised their concerns with employers, they were insulted, harassed, and even threatened in order to keep them in line. The Daily Mirror reported in 2019 that that around twenty eight thousand workers were being paid the equivalent of 99p per hour for a typical forty-eight hour work week. This wage has since been raised in response to scrutiny, but is still insufficient to keep up with Qatar’s high cost of living.
Qatar has failed to investigate the deaths of migrant workers according to Amnesty International, who also accuse FIFA of “looking the other way” whilst thousands of workers toiled in unsanitary, overcrowded, unsafe, and often deadly working and living conditions for little to no pay.
Qatar is largely avoiding any meaningful scrutiny from the majority of Western nations for quite a simple reason. Qatar shares the world’s biggest natural gas field with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which accounts for a large slice of Qatar’s GDP.
However, while Iran is under significant and increasing Western sanctions in the wake of their response to domestic protests (an issue that has been highlighted by the brave demonstrations of Iran’s players before their match with England), it is unable to extract and sell the same amount of gas as Qatar. Qatar has used this opportunity to ramp up its natural gas processing, and is extracting large amounts of gas for low prices.
Natural gas is not subject to the same sanctions as other fossil fuels like crude oil or coal, and is under increasing demand after the war in Ukraine has caused a global shortage. Western nations are using the World Cup to cosy up to Qatar for access to their reserves of natural gas, and won’t ruffle any Qatari feathers over something as trivial as human rights abuses to get it.
If Qatar wished to use the World Cup as a veil to cover up their appalling treatment of migrant workers, their restrictions on freedom of speech, and their oppression of the LGBTQ+ community, it has certainly not worked out the way they hoped.
Teams from Europe, including England and Wales, have been denied the right to wear the so-called “one love” armband, a simple gesture that would have drawn attention to Qatar’s opposition to diversity in their society, and supporting diversity in the sport of football. Team captains were threatened with immediate yellow cards, and allegedly blackmailed by officials in order for them to refrain from exercising their right to free speech in this manner.
Those who oppose players and fans protesting Qatar’s corruption, oppressive laws, and human rights abuses, and FIFA’s attempts to cover it all up, say that the World Cup is not the appropriate platform upon which to raise these concerns, and that “other cultures (referring to Qatar) must be respected”.
The call to respect the culture of Qatar is a call to respect a culture of disrespect. Disrespect of marginalised groups, of the LGBTQ+ community, disrespect of migrant workers who have been used as slaves and been allowed to die at work with no repercussions, and most of all, disrespect of fans of the beautiful game.
The World Cup is indeed a unique opportunity; an opportunity to shine a light on historic corruption, oppression, exploitation, and abuse. An opportunity to make football and its governing bodies more inclusive, more transparent, and fairer for the multitudes that love the sport, including football’s newest fan, me.
stay safe
/e