PostedSeptember 13, 2021, 20:30
Players and federations are outraged by the holding of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Many promise sanctions, but no real boycott of the competition has been pronounced.
The banner of the Norwegian team, which protests against the inhumane treatment of migrant workers, during a match against the Netherlands in September.
AFP
Playing in Qatar seems to be a problem, but not to the point of refusing to play the World Cup. Only Norway has taken concrete action by submitting the boycott of the competition to the vote of the federation. The extraordinary assembly voted in June against skipping the competition, with 368 votes to 121. The rest of the world seems to have accepted the competition.‘idea to play matches in Qatar, despite serious accusations about the fate of the workers there.
“Boycotting is the easy way.”
Roberto Martínez, coach of the Belgium team, believes that it is pointless to boycott the competition. If the teams withdraw, they bring back with them the attention people and media had on the organization of the event.
«The message is clear: don’t turn your back. Boycottt the easy way “, he launched in March. His team faced Iceland, at a time when each selection fought against human rights violations by wearing T-hirts engaged as well as a banner. The message is clear, but is it not lacking in strength? «We must all participate and make this World Cup a success. Then then we can make sure the change is present», said the Belgium coach.
“Not a solution”
Tim Sparv came to the same conclusion. The captain of the Finland team has thought about the matter for a long time. He mainly obtained information from various entities, and was able to exchange views with people working in Qatar. The Finn recounts his internal questioning in «The Player’s Tribune».
«I don’t think the boycott is currently a solution. It would not bring any positive change to the workers on site., seethe opposite», he believes. He would like all this visibility to turn into usefulness for human rights.
The Finnish captain does not blame the players for their lack of position. «I don’t expect a lot of young players to speak. It’s hard for a youngster of 17 years of getting out of school and playing in front of 50’000 people. We throw them in the lion cage and we hope to see them survive, which is crazy. A lot of them we have enough to do», he says, adding that some players preferIt’swill always focus on football. Dutch player georginio Wijnaldum for his part said: «CWe are not the ones who chose to play in Qatar.»
Whose responsibility?
TO as the deadline draws closer, everyone tries to find those responsible. Matthias fettteacher economy at the University of Hamburg, analyzed three possible scenarios.
In the first scenario, the Scandinavian countries launch the movement and decide to withdraw from the competition. In view of the outcome of the vote in Norway, it is already unlikely that this will actually happen. Especially since the financial benefits are higher by participating in a World Cup than by giving it up.
Second scenario: UEFA itself boycots the competition. It would no longer be an isolated federation, but rather one juggernaut against another. Here again, the probabilitys are extremely low for various reasons. The professor evokes notamment the place of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, member of the UEFA executive committee but also president of Paris Saint-Germain and of the beIN Sports group.
Third scenario: the IT’SUnited States boycott the competition. «For this scenario, the situation of Uyghurs in China plays a role. Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics and in the spotlight for violating minority human rightss Uyghurs.
There are currently discussions at IT’SUnited States on the boycott of these Winter Olympics, similar to the boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980. As a rational consequence, the team of IT’Sthe United States is also expected to boycott Qatar later in the year», writes the professor. He then evokes the American sponsors who infuse 500 to 600 million dollars during the World Cup.
Progress announced and not visible
Both on the government side and on FIFA, progress is being highlighted. The country’s communications body says it has improved health and safety standards for workers. Labor inspectors have more power and companies that violate the law have heavier penalties.
The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, asserted in May that there was still work to be done, but that «we must recognize the significant progress made in a very short period of time».
Amnesty International, for his part, sent a letter to the FIFA President. The organization calls for more measures to ensure respect for human rights. British media «The Guardian» had carried out an investigation into the question of workers in Qatar. In total, the English newspaper has identified 6500 deaths from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
