At the end of 2010, the FIFA Executive Committee announced that Qatar would become the host country of the 2022 World Cup, with that decision becoming the first Arab nation to host the great world soccer tournament. The State of Qatar had been a closed and hermetic country until it decided to hold the World Cup from November 20 to December 18. This territory of 11,571 square kilometers hosts the second most important event in international sport (after the Olympic Games). , JJOO) with a host of accusations on their shoulders about irregularities in fundamental freedoms and Human Rights.
The eyes of the world are on a nation with restrictions; there are so many that they range from the media having to explain whether beer can be consumed during the date because, in that Muslim nation, liquor is “regulated” to detailing the code of wardrobe for foreign women traveling to a territory where, on paper, they have fewer rights than in their home nations. To what has already been mentioned, adding that a Qatari woman can only attend events if she is authorized by her partner (a man); she can even only receive medical attention on sexual health if she brings a marriage certificate because, under that system, relationships intimate are only for married people.
In this sense, homosexuality is punishable; the law dictates penalties of up to three years in prison for a man who “incites” another to “commit an act of sodomy or immorality” and up to ten years if people of the same sex have relationships sexual, even if they are consensual. It is a case similar to the 2018 Soccer World Cup, in which just four years ago, it was Russia that was opening up to the world under the pretext of soccer. Hence, both events have an element in common: two countries questioned for their handling of Human Rights, which obtained the endorsement of the Federation to receive a tournament of such importance.
So, we will experience a Football World Cup with a panorama of lacking Human Rights, lacking sexual freedom, freedom of association, and freedom of expression because it also undermines the press by conditioning them to imprisonment in case they criticize the emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, leader of the Qatari regime since 2013 (when his father abdicated the throne), that is, we are talking about an absolute monarchy. In this way, a paradox of the Qatar 2022 World Cup is born in which, on the one hand, the women’s side of FIFA is growing day by day, the women’s soccer leagues are becoming more and more popular, on the other hand, the 2022 World Cup is leaving to do in a territory where women are prohibited from practicing this sport.
However, not satisfied with the violations of the fundamental freedoms of individuals and Human Rights, there is such discord that Qatar hosts the football festival to such an extent that the former president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, assured that it was a mistake to choose it as host. The same Federation was paying over time the burden of having granted the leadership of the most essential soccer tournament to a questioned country. These 12 years that have passed since the announcement that Qatar would host the 2022 Soccer World Cup have been marked by controversies clearly related to the management of the organization of the World Cup.
That is, while Qatar lifted the ban on workers changing employers and introduced a monthly minimum wage of 1,000 Qatari riyals (around $273), it claims to have done more than any other country in the region and firmly rejects balance sheets of thousands of deaths in the works, launched by international media. However, reporters and international associations dismiss a partial application of these new measures due to a lack of inspections and adequate resources. Above all, the NGOs want to ensure that these advances will not disappear when the tournament ends, “when there is no media light.”
At the same time, Qatar had to build eight sports venues from scratch with foreign labor, which according to Human Rights Watch, had no guarantee of protecting their Human and labor rights. Added to these massive works was the construction of a subway line and extravagant luxury hotels that required the labor of migrants from countries such as Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In between, the modern infrastructure required more than 220,000 million dollars in investments and incalculable costs in human lives.
A Guardian investigation indicated that at least 6,500 migrants died working on the works, although the regime denied that figure. Amnesty International has verified some of those deaths with death certificates from the countries of origin. I do not rule out the certainty of these figures; it would not be the first football summit marked by death. Let’s remember that in 1978 Argentina hosted the event amid the military dictatorship, and even in Brazil in 2014, there were reports of workers killed during the construction of the stadiums.
Precisely, that is the other shadow of the most important tournament in the world of this sport. Support your team or the team of your choice at all times, but that is not the same as supporting Qatar as a host. For now, #BoycottQatar2022