The Australian national team on Thursday became the first team to qualify for the competition to openly criticize Qatar for the lack of respect for human rights that accompanied the organization of the Cup (November 20 – December 18) in the country. host.
Sixteen members of the Australian men’s team, which is in the group of France just like Denmark and Tunisia (group D), nicknamed the “Socceroos”, appeared in a short video explaining their position.
“For the past two years, we have devoted ourselves to understanding and better knowing the situation in Qatar, explain the players. We are not experts but we have listened to organizations such as Amnesty (International), Fifa” and, “more importantly, foreign workers in Qatar”.
The video is accompanied by a statement from the Football Association of Australia. “We recognize the significant progress and legislative reforms that have taken place in Qatar in recent years to recognize and protect workers’ rights and we encourage all actors to continue along this path of reform,” writes the FFA.
“However, we have also learned that the tournament has been associated with the suffering of migrant workers and their families and this cannot be ignored,” the federation continues. Football Australia has also urged the tiny gas emirate to show more tolerance for same-sex relationships, which are currently illegal in Qatar.
« One love »
“As our country’s most multicultural, diverse and inclusive sport, we believe everyone should be able to feel safe and free to be themselves,” Football Australia said. The captains of a number of European nations – including England, France and Germany – will wear rainbow colored armbands and the message ‘One Love’ during the World Cup as part of an anti-LGBT discrimination campaign.
The Qatar World Cup organizing committee responded Thursday to criticism from the Australian team. “We have made every effort to ensure that this World Cup will improve people’s lives,” a spokesperson replied Thursday. “Protecting the health, safety and dignity of every worker contributing to this World Cup is our priority,” he added. The organizing committee insisted on reforms relating to labor law and safety on the construction sites of the Mondial-2022. “New laws and reforms often take time to settle in, and getting employment law firmly in place is a global challenge, including for Australia,” the spokesperson said. “No country is perfect and every country, whether or not it hosts a major event, has its own challenges. »
The World Cup has been marred by controversy since Fifa awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010. The massive influx of foreign workers has enabled Qatar to prepare the infrastructure necessary for one of the biggest sporting events in the world. New roads, a new airport, a bespoke rail network and seven new stadiums had to be built.
According to Amnesty International, these migrant workers from Bangladesh, Nepal and India in particular received poverty wages and worked in extremely precarious conditions.
The International Labor Organization has counted fifty World Cup workers dead in 2020 and hundreds more injured.
The first Arab country to host the event is also being criticized for its treatment of women and air conditioning at seven of its eight stadiums. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called on Qatar and Fifa to create a compensation fund for workers who are victims of the World Cup construction sites, endowed with 440 million dollars, the equivalent of the sports allocations promised to the 32 selections aligned.
