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opiatemasses · 2 years ago

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The Qatar World Cup and the ‘sportswashing’ scandal

Image credit: Abode Stock Image

The controversy surrounding the Qatar World Cup doesn’t lie around the football being played, but the way the host nation has used it for global recognition.

On the 2nd of December 2010, Qatar were gifted the opportunity to host the mens’ World Cup by FIFA, following a successful bid by the country.

The successful bidding process has happened in the last two consecutive World Cups. Collectively, the whole world were all shocked and stunned, but should we be anymore?

The global surprise soon turned in to animosity, as investigations were being undertaken on FIFA and Qatar as the host nation allegedly bribed FIFA, albeit, “Qatari officials deny the allegations of bribery”.

After the scandal, fans were rumoured to be boycotting the tournament, but they didn’t. This has reminded the world why football is so popular and why the process of ‘sportswashing’ is so powerful.

Sportswashing isn’t new. It is a menace. It isn’t a new concept that has happened in Qatar. But it is right at the forefront of sports fans’ minds, though, this still doesn’t mean it is ethically correct.

The majority of the event exemplifies the process of ‘sportswashing’ whereby “an individual, group, corporation, or nation-state uses sport to improve its reputation and public image.” This World Cup has been used as a tool for power to distract people from the gloomy human rights issues.

Thinking critically, this World Cup is a prime example of this.

Prior to the tournament, football, non-football fans, media, sponsors, organisations and countries were sincerely compelled in the human rights issues that were occurring in preparation for the World Cup. This hindered the excitement for the start of the football.

Football and its community have a unique bond which creates an emotional attachment. A bond which is hard to dismantle.

Sportswashing has always been a phenomenon of football and other sports, though, in 2022 it has seemed to propagate and loom around within the game. Saudi Arabia, for example, have been under criticism for having Messi as an ambassador in Argentina’s 2-1 defeat.

Some firms seek to use it to their advantage, to build sponsors, their public imagine, host events and their global popularity - such as Qatar, but, does sportswashing and the corporate social responsibility even matter to the fans?

However, when the tournament kicked off on the 20th of November 2022, the world shifted their focus to the football and almost dismissed or forgot the unresolved Geo-Political problems in the background.

Questions have been raised surrounding the acceptance of Qatar hosting the World Cup such as it’s too hot, too far away, too small, has insufficient infrastructure, is not a footballing nation and not progressive enough. These are some of the charges that have been levelled with Qatar’s successful bid.

Alongside this, the human rights issues of living citizens and workers in Qatar, consist of the horrifying treatment and exploitation of migrant workers, women being policed by their male counterparts and the horrific abuse towards the LGBTQIA + community.

#TimeForChange

Let’s take a stand for the whole LGBTQIA + community in Qatar and beyond this and for the loss of Grant Wahl’s life

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These issues in Qatar contradicts FIFA’s statement before the tournament on the World Cup saying football “will bring people together to cross borders, unite and celebrate together”.

Football is a sport that unites people, so awarding a country the World Cup with strong national views, feels like it is dividing the world not uniting it.

There is a special sentiment for a country hosting the World Cup and the prominence that comes with it. This is why Qatar wanted to host a World Cup, to entertain the world’s best players on the stage play in their country, to create a reputation for themselves. Not just for economic reasons. This shows how extraordinary sport and power work in the modern age.

FIFA pride themselves as having a “workforce as diverse as the beautiful game” – though, with Qatar's extreme views on these complications, it seemed an unmeasured choice from FIFA to allow the bidding process from Qatar for the World’s largest footballing tournament @FIFA.

THE CONFLICTING ARGUMENT

There is a divided argument surrounding this multifaced and complex ideological topic.

A large proportion of fans and non-fans believed that it was wholesome to expand the game of football by awarding it to a country lower in the FIFA world rankings (50th).

Additionally, this is the first time a Middle Eastern country has had the pleasure to host a World Cup. Awarding Qatar the World Cup does match FIFA’s mission statement of “Develop the Game, Touch the World, Build a Better Future”.

Not only did hosting the World Cup bring in foreign investment and provide an economic boost for Qatar, with the $1.56 billion sales revenue, but it produced huge social benefits which may alter perceptions and beliefs on the social consideration of the country.

Other football, and non-football fans, believe differently. Why has a country which lacked footballing facilities prior to the start of the World Cup and controversial human rights laws been given the opportunity to host the World Cup?

Qatar didn’t have one stadium in a condition to meet the criteria. It wasn’t just this they were lacking. There was insufficient accommodation for the one million fans travelling to the capital, Doha. They have had to build eight stadiums, which costed them approximately £3.35 billion.

Womens’ lives have always been overlooked by males which has hindered their right to decision making and their dress-wear. Alongside this, the LGBTQIA + community are strictly forbidden, it is illegal to be homosexual and deemed a criminal offence. This has meant this was abolished from the tournament and must be respected.

ALCOHOL VS NO ALCOHOL

Alcohol is strictly moderated in Qatar.

Alcohol and football since the birth of the game have gone hand in hand. Alcohol sales at the 2018 World Cup brought in £209 million in the group stages from just the British alone! However, due to Qatar being an Islamic country, selling, serving, and consuming alcohol is highly regulated and can only be drank in moderation.

Although drinking is legal, if anyone drinks in public or is drunk whatsoever, it is illegal with fines up to £700 or in extreme cases imprisonment or execution.

Nevertheless, there was an 11 hour turn around the night before the first match kicked off where alcohol in the stadium was permitted for fans. The regulations changed and the only place fans were able to drink was in hospitality boxes, costing a whopping £12 a can for Budweiser.

The nuance behind this change in the rules on alcohol consumption is complex - did Qatar do this due to the power they hold, the dynamics and the balance between the event organisers, FIFA, sponsors and the state?

MODERN SLAVERY

Let’s take a step back.

I was brought up to respect others. The way this tournament has respected its migrant workers is utterly outrageous. So, I have simply not supported this tournament throughout.

The Qatari government allowed 2.1 million migrant workers to enter the country to help construct the necessary infrastructure for the tournament.

These workers sacrificed everything. They came to afford an improved quality of life for themselves and their families.

These migrant workers took out extortionate bank loans in order to flee to Qatar and many of which won’t be able to afford to ever pay their loans back as they got “paid 150,000 rupees ($1,251) for the job, which he borrowed at a 36% interest rate”.

This seems like extortion, showcasing a range of abuses such as, wage theft, forced labour, and exploitation. The workers were never made aware of this. This is completely immoral.

One worker said, “We all know our place in Qatar. We are the slaves and they are our masters”. Unfortunately, not all these workers survived; 6,500 died with 70% of those deaths unexplained by Qatari authorities.

FIFA are expected to generate $6 billion dollars from the tournament and $400 million of this, people and organisations are urging FIFA to compensate the migrant workers.

This still won’t re-pay their wrongdoings and the pain these workers suffered.

The migrant workers were and are “treated like animals,” and authorities “don’t care if they die”. Although Qatar have the ‘44th’ highest Human Development Index (HDI) in the world they still pay a considerable amount lower than the minimum wage for these migrant workers, which is utterly immoral.

Qatari authorities know they are violating human rights, but do not want it to be become a global discussion, if it isn’t already yet?

To top what I have mentioned, temperatures in Doha, can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius which these workers have had to work in for a staggering 12 hours a day and if they’re lucky they get just one day off a month with minimal water and food. Not only is this dangerous for the workers, but for the players that played in the World Cup and for the travelling fans.

Nevertheless, fans still proceeded to watch the football in the comfort of their homes with the lack of awareness behind what has occurred prior to the start of the tournament.

As the World Cup has now finished, it is necessary to re-remind fans and non-fans on a global scale of what has happened at this World Cup, to raise awareness.

How can we help these migrant workers? If YOU want to help - sign the petition below!

TAKE ACTION! #PayUpFIFA

Let’s work together to raise awareness to compensate the migrant workers at the Qatar World Cup 2022 and the families who have lost their loved ones

Sign the petition now

WHAT WAS DONE?

Some players, sponsors, fans, and football organisations were trying to take action and make a statement, to both FIFA and the Qataris.

Fans during the World Cup were in the midst of mixed messages. The Qatar Government said anything related to the LGBTQIA + campaign was prohibited at the tournament whereas other organisations stated that these communities were to be supported.

Before the opening match of the World Cup, FIFA urged the competing teams to “focus on football,” due to teams talking about the situation in Qatar and the motive to make a difference.

FIFA made a bold decision just hours before the first match that teams needed to respect Qatar’s culture, where no kits should express “any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images” and not proceed with the following campaigns:

o Taking the knee before the game starts, due to the death of George Floyd on the 25th of May 2020 - @KickItOut

o LGBTQIA + armband (OneLove).

o Stonewall’s rainbow laces campaign to support the LGBTQIA + community - @Stonewall.

Although to a certain extent FIFA were successful in stifling the protested campaigns, I’m glad that some nations decided to disregard this from FIFA and advance with their intended messages.

Qatar said they allowed homosexuals into the country, but they were not welcoming them.

The Qatar World Cup ambassador, Khalid Salman stated that homosexuality is a “damage in the mind” and people attending “should accept our rules”.

There’s no way anyone part of the LGBTQIA + community were going to feel vaguely safe and welcome after these demoralising and demonising comments. It is only putting themselves at risk.

World Cups are engrained around togetherness and unity, so how can that make it a World Cup?

This exemplifies sportswashing at its very worst. Money is creating a disconnect between fans and the game. This made me lose all interest in the World Cup before it even commenced.

I couldn’t turn a blind eye to these aforementioned problems. It is time for these rules and regulations to change. Sign the petition below via the website or QR code to enable players to have the human right to wear the ‘One Love’ armband.

Website Link For The Petition:

http://bit.ly/3B83au8

QR Code For The Petition:

Iran, like Qatar, are an Islamic nation, though, Iran fans in the game VS England were wearing t-shirts and had flags of a female called Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody after not wearing her hijab.

Their strong Islamic belief was left behind and dismissed to reflect their thoughts and condolences of the tragedy.

This promotes a strong message to FIFA and to their fellow Islamic dominated country, Qatar.

YOU

I have my thoughts on this contemporary issue, do you? Now the tournament has finished, your help is needed for change to combat the power ‘sportswashing’ holds within all sports.

Read the article below for extra information on ‘sportswashing’, by clicking the link on your smartphone or scanning the QR code.

Link: To The Website:

https://bit.ly/3WlTzIb

QR Code For The Website: