Qatar will be the first Arab state in the world to host the world cup, with approximately 32 teams globally coming to play in the tournament. However this has not come without some controversy. For the past few months it has been heavily debated on whether it was the right decision to allow Qatar to hold the Fifa world cup games. Qatar has one of the strictest and most stringent law enforcements out there and for many this brought about concerns on the policies that are in place when it comes to human rights.
First and foremost, it is imperative to understand the nature of this situation such as how and why the FIFA officials decided to host it in Qatar. In 2010, Qatar came up as a part of the winning ballot of Fifa’s 22 executive committee. Qatar beat bids from many countries including Australia, USA, Japan and South Korea who were all willing to host it. Many questioned the legitimacy of the executives' decisions and claimed that the ballots were rigged and that financial bribery was involved. There were claims that Qatar paid the Fifa Officials the equivalent of £3 million to host the games in their country but two years later these claims were proven false after a long investigation. Nonetheless, many still believe that corruption played a huge role in the outcomes of the ballots. The Fifa officials initially believed they had made the right decision as it allows for football to “develop” internationally but now have made a drastic U-turn in saying that this was a “mistake’.
People protesting for more workers rights
What led to this sudden drastic change of opinions? In the past few months many pointed out the human rights violation that had been prevelant in Qatar and how certain communities and groups of people were mistreated,tortured or killed. The first of these was the building of the venue itself and how 6,500 migrant labourers passed away after building the infrastructure for the tournament. The workers were severely underpaid and lacked any health insurance to protect them from any casualties. In Qatar 2 million migrant workers from India,Sri Lanka and Nepal make up the national labour force which is 94 % of the group. Workers who were interviewed by non-profit organisations have openly stated that they had to work long, strenuous hours, receive little to no pay and have to endure dangerous working and living conditions. This is incredibly unethical and only very recently after international disapproval has Qatar established any labour reforms to migrant workers. These reforms came in the form of insurance, establishing a minimum wage and a support fund for families of migrant workers. Though this is a step forward, there is still a long way to go when it comes to mitigating the effects and limiting the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers.
The World Cup has also come under fire for turning its back on LGBTQ fans as well as women who are fans of the tournament. In Qatar, being gay is punishable by prison as it is seen as immoral and blasphemous. This means many LGBTQ people living in Qatar live in fear of what might happen to them which can include police brutality and intimidation. This fear has stretched out to fans abroad who want to watch the tournament but now have to either take a risk to travel and see it in person or have to miss out. Furthermore, women in Qatar have little to no sovereign rights. Women in Qatar must either ask a paternal figure or their husband to travel,study abroad, marry, receive any forms of reproductive healthcare such as contraceptives and to be the primary guardian of their child even if divorced. This hence limits what women in Qatar could actually do and similar to the previous case, it brings about the question of whether it is safe for women abroad to travel to Qatar for the Fifa World Cup. These limitations on freedom of expression can impact the lives of many and this brought about the discussion on the human rights violations and censorships within Qatar. Many fans and athletes themselves worry that by travelling to Qatar that they will indirectly be supporting these violations that people have to deal with on a daily basis.
Athletes wearing shirts criticising Qatar’s violation of human rights
There also came concerns about how going to Qatar suggests you indirectly support the laws that are in place. Celebrities criticised the athletes and teams who went abroad to play in Qatar. An example of this would be the comedian Joe Lycett who infamously said to have “shred” £10,000 as a protest to David Beckham going to Qatar to play in the World Cup as well as being an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup.Lycett gave Beckham an ultimatum that if he went to Qatar and kept his position as ambassador , he would destroy £10,000 to charities which would’ve gone to support LGBTQ activists and people in Qatar. Though the shredding was proven false and it was in the end still given to charities, this did show the large impact that celebrities [such as Beckham] going to Qatar has on the community. Similarly, singer Dua Lipa was rumoured to be performing in Qatar during the World Cup but quickly declined the allegations and says that she will only perform when “it has fulfilled all the human-rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup”.The same sentiments were made by Prince William, Harry Kane , Gareth Southgate and others.
So with underpaid labourers, several human rights violations and fatalities on their hands, is there any way that the Qatar Government can even respond to this and as to why they should hold the World Cup games? The Qatari Government and Sheih has said that there have been movements towards “protecting migrant workers” and their rights as well as saying that “Everybody respects migrant workers [Qatar] here”. However the Qatari Government said that whilst they won’t try and impose the laws in place on foreigners , they urge them to respect them which includes the newest one on the consumption of alcohol at the world cup events. However though things have been promised, little to no physical action as of yet has been done.
The World Cup is far from being over and now that the season has just begun, we can do nothing but wait and see what happens next and whether Qatar will be willing to address or change any of its policies.
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