Photo: RNZ / Michelle Tiang
Explanation: The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been surrounded by controversy surrounding workers’ rights, same-sex relationships and allegations of corruption.
With the tiny Gulf state of Qatar set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, everyone from soccer fans, politicians and commentators have had their say on the ethical quandaries of this year’s iteration of the biggest sporting event. biggest of the world.
As the tournament reaches a fever pitch and the drama surrounding the action on the pitch mounts, it is important not to forget the troubled path that has led the world of football to Qatar.
All along the run up to the 2022 World Cup there have been allegations of corruption, criticism of non-inclusive laws and teams blocked from protesting on the pitch, so what’s behind all this controversy?
RNZ is here to clear it all up.
Qatar’s position on same-sex relationships
Qatar is an Arab nation, the first to host a FIFA World Cup, and one of the most criticized issues at the tournament has been FIFA’s decision to grant hosting rights to a country where homosexuality is prohibited by law. .
Qatar’s official religion of Islam is intertwined with the nation’s cultural and governmental leanings, with Islamic law enshrined in the country’s constitution.
Under Qatar’s 2004 Penal Code, same-sex sexual relations are criminalized and carry a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
The law also makes it an offense to ‘induce, incite or allure a man in any way to commit sodomy’ and ‘induce or allure a man or woman in any way to commit an illegal or immoral act’, which carries a maximum penalty. three-year prison.
International outrage over the host country’s non-inclusive stance was stoked in the build-up to the World Cup, when former Qatari footballer and tournament ambassador Khalid Salman described homosexuality as “mental damage” in a media interview. germans.
World Cup 2022 executive director Nasser Al Khater said Qatar was a tolerant country and LGBT+ people would not face “persecution of any kind”.
However, many soccer fans and commentators have argued that Qatar’s stance on homosexuality does not reflect the spirit of soccer as a game for everyone.
In an apparent attempt to reduce the politicization of the issue, Qatar World Cup officials have been removing LGBTQIA+ symbols from fans entering stadiums, such as rainbow flags or similar image-inducing clothing.
Weeks before the tournament, FIFA issued a statement calling on nations to “focus on football”, drawing strong criticism from human rights organizations and commentators around the world.
On the pitch, many international teams who planned protests wearing the “One Love” rainbow captain’s armbands were forced to abandon their protests before the first game began, and any player wearing the symbol was threatened with disciplinary action on the court. cross country an immediate yellow card.
Players from Germany cover their mouths in a protest against the ban on wearing the One Love captain’s armband at the World Cup in Qatar.
Photo: AFP
Migrant worker deaths and human rights abuses
The World Cup in Qatar boasts the largest infrastructure spending in FIFA history, with the Qatari government spending more than $200 billion on the tournament, according to Forbes.
This incredible amount of money went to finance the construction of eight new stadiums, roads, accommodation and other infrastructure in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where all 64 matches will be played.
With the combination of heavy construction investment and Qatar’s questionable record of worker rights abuses, allegations of needless deaths of migrant workers have tarnished the reputation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In preparation for Qatar 2022, thousands of migrant workers have traveled to the Gulf state to take advantage of a host of job opportunities created by the booming career to build infrastructure in time for the tournament.
Many of these workers came from developing countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.
Many of these migrant workers have been reported to have been victims of labor rights abuses, live in poor conditions, and some workers report being misled about the nature of their employment.
Many Qatari companies operated a system called ‘Kafala’, which required them to sponsor workers to enter the country, but also prevented them from leaving their jobs without their employer’s permission.
Some workers who came to Qatar for engineering jobs were forced to do manual labor, others had their passports confiscated, and many lived in squalid and overcrowded living conditions.
Over the past decade, international pressure has led Qatar to introduce labor reforms, including the abolition of the ‘Kafala’ system and increases in minimum wages.
While there have been widespread claims that thousands of migrant workers have been killed in Qatar, the exact total of World Cup-related deaths is unclear, with reports varying between different media outlets and NGOs.
An independent investigation by Amnesty International in 2021 claimed that up to 15,000 migrant workers had died in World Cup-related circumstances.
Meanwhile, an investigation of The Guardian in the same year claimed a total of 6500 deaths.
However, fact-checkers have found the results of these investigations to be misleading, as they are based on official figures from Qatar and those of the migrant workers’ countries of origin regarding deaths of all migrants in the country. .
A worker carries wood at a construction site on the Corniche in Doha on November 16, 2022, ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 soccer tournament.
Photo: AFP
For an extended period, the Qatari authorities have claimed that during the construction of the eight stadiums in and around Doha, there were only three deaths of migrant workers in work-related events and 37 in non-work-related events. Although this claim only refers to the construction of stadiums.
By comparison, eight workers died during the construction or refurbishment of 12 venues at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, a Humans Rights Watch report claimed that 18 workers lost their lives at World Cup stadium sites in preparation for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In late November 2022, the head of Qatar’s World Cup organization, Hassan al-Thawadi, admitted in a television interview that there have been “between 400 and 500” deaths of migrant workers in the broader construction related to the World Cup since 2010.
Just a few days later, the Qatari Supreme Committee refuted these claims with a statement saying that number referred to work-related deaths “covering all sectors and nationalities” across the country between 2014 and 2022.
Human rights organizations and various football associations continue to press FIFA to establish a compensation fund for the families of migrant workers who have died in Qatar.
Alleged corruption in bidding process
After Qatar was granted the hosting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in December 2010, questions were raised about the legitimacy of FIFA’s bidding process.
The decision, which also awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia, has been plagued by allegations of widespread corruption, with two investigations launched by Swiss prosecutors and the US Justice Department in 2015.
However, both Qatar and Russia maintained their innocence and were effectively cleared of any wrongdoing by a FIFA investigation in 2017.
In 2020, the US Department of Justice revealed details about money received by five high-level FIFA board members ahead of the vote that resulted in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia. and Qatar, respectively.
US prosecutors claimed that representatives of Qatar and Russia had bribed FIFA officials to secure hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup. File photo.
Photo: Photosport
the New York Times reported that most of the FIFA officials who voted on the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, including former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, have been accused of illegal or dishonest behavior, though not necessarily a crime.
In November 2022, disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a “mistake”, a move seen as a futile attempt to distance himself from the controversy.
Blatter said he voted for the United States and blamed then-UEFA president Michel Platini for tipping the vote in favor of Qatar.
beer ban
While alcohol and soccer are enjoyed together throughout the Western world, fans of the Qatar World Cup were disappointed when its organizers reversed a decision to allow alcohol sales in stadiums.
Just two days before the first match was to start, FIFA announced that no alcoholic beer would be sold in stadiums.
“Following discussions between the authorities of the host country and FIFA, the decision was made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing beer outlets from the perimeters of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup stadium”. a FIFA spokesman said in a statement.
While the sale of alcohol is not prohibited under Islamic law in Qatar, it is highly restricted and it is an offense to drink alcohol or be drunk in public.
Fans can buy and drink very expensive beer in the assigned fan zones.
Photo: AFP
Initially, the government had promised to relax its laws on the sale of alcohol for the tournament, to allow fans to drink and buy alcohol at the venues.
However, after extensive negotiations between FIFA, longtime World Cup sponsor Budweiser, and World Cup organizers Qatar, the deal fell through with over a million fans already traveling to the tournament.
For many years, Qatari organizers promised alcohol would be widely accessible to fans, but the decision left supporter groups questioning the country’s ability to deliver on its commitments.
While they can’t drink at the venues, fans can still purchase beer in designated Fan Zones at an incredible $14 a pint.
Meanwhile, those with VIP tickets to World Cup matches will be able to continue to drink freely in stadium suites with FIFA advertising for a selection of premium beers, champagne, wines and spirits.
