If you keep up with soccer (or football, as it is referred to in England) at all, you might have watched or even read about the upcoming World Cup and many of the qualifying games that were just played. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is set to be held in Qatar in November and December of 2022. Personally, I am super excited that England has qualified (and mainly that Italy hasn’t yet), but there are a plethora of ethical and social implications that come with Qatar hosting the tournament. These issues beg the question of whether or not the competition should be separated from these issues or if they are all intertwined. I believe that Qatar hosting is ethically wrong because it is nearly impossible for these issues to be overlooked. However, that does not change the fact that they are, and we should instead focus on how the World Cup can bring attention to the poor human rights situation in Qatar.
Going back over 10 years to December 2010, Qatar was awarded the right to host the World Cup. They’re set to be the first Arab nation to host one. But shortly after they were successful in their bid to host, the controversies began. In May 2011, it was leaked that the Qatari state government had offered FIFA $480 million and that the state-run news channel had offered FIFA an additional $400 million to allow them to host. The alleged state-sponsored bribery was only the beginning of Qatar’s ethical transgressions. More recently, a report released by the Associated Press revealed that Qatar had hired a former CIA agent to spy on FIFA officials in order to strengthen Qatar’s chances of winning their bid.
First and foremost, it is important to mention that homosexuality is illegal in Qatar; “offenders” can be faced with three to seven years in prison. Despite this, the Qatar Football Association has said that they will comply with FIFA and their request to display pride flags as part of their commitment to inclusivity in football. Even though it seems that during the World Cup there will be pride symbols, it feels like that is not enough. In a country where it is illegal to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community, what does displaying pride flags do to change those laws? Does it help those people who are not allowed to be themselves? The answer to these questions is truly twofold. No, putting up banners with pride flags does not change the laws in Qatar, but it does allow awareness to be spread about the situation in Qatar. Hopefully, the increased awareness from the rest of the world will amount to some type of change because without any change, the issues in Qatar will only get worse.
Another main issue that has been at the forefront of the news surrounding Qatar is their treatment of the workers who are building the stadiums. Since Qatar was awarded the World Cup back in 2010, there have been numerous investigations about the working conditions there based on claims of debt bondage, forced labor, and high death toll of workers. It was only two years ago that Qatar ended the labor system that made it illegal for workers to leave their job, or even the country, without the permission of their employer. On top of that, there are reported to be 6,500 worker deaths directly related to the preparation of the World Cup. Qatar’s problems run deeper than just those surrounding the World Cup; they are longstanding issues that stem from the foundation of labor in Qatar. The laws surrounding labor have never been fair, and if we want any hope of salvaging the human rights situation, we must continue to raise awareness of the issues in Qatar, even beyond the conclusion of the World Cup next year.
While Qatar has denied all of the allegations of mistreatment and has said on numerous occasions that they will tolerate an “inclusive” environment, they have recently detained two Norwegian journalists who have been reporting on many of the issues in Qatar surrounding the World Cup. The two journalists were detained for over 30 hours and all of their footage was seized and deleted. They were specifically reporting on the migrant worker camps to gather information on the labor situation surrounding the World Cup. Well, if Qatar has nothing to hide as they claim, why would they detain two journalists? What happened to freedom of the press, which is a constitutional right in Qatar? The Qatari government maintains they were only arrested because they did not have permission to record on private property, but the journalists claim that they had verbal permission to be on the property. This detention is increasingly worrisome for two reasons: This is not the first time that this has happened, and it leads to questions about the truthfulness of all of the statements that come from the Qatari government. It is critical that journalists are allowed to freely report on the situation in Qatar because if they are not, it starts to violate the very principles on which we rely for freedom of the press. Violating the people’s right to freedom of expression is yet another clear example of Qatar’s poor human rights situation, and without these journalists, there is no hope for progress.
As it stands, Qatar will be hosting the World Cup, and there really is not anything that you or I can do about this fact. Although we may not have control over which country hosts the World Cup, we can manage our response to the situation. This event can be used to bring attention to the many human rights issues that Qatar currently has. The 32 teams that will eventually go to Qatar have the chance to use their high profiles to highlight these issues, and many teams have. Numerous players have spoken out about some of these issues, but I found this particular player’s stance to be the most compelling, “Ultimately, I would argue that there are two ways to go – either you boycott it completely or you go there and make no secret of what you stand for,” Chelsea Football Club player Magdelena Eriksson said. I completely agree with Eriksson, and it is important for players and fans alike to be conscientious about the event’s implications, while also helping to push for much-needed change.
