The city of Paris will not install fan-zones or giant screens in public space to broadcast the matches of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, announced the deputy in charge of sport, Pierre Rabadan.
“For us, there was no question of setting up match broadcasting areas for several reasons: the first is the conditions for organizing this World Cup, both in terms of the environment and the social aspect; the second is the temporality, the fact that it takes place in December”, he explained Monday, October 3 in the evening.
Marseille, Bordeaux, Nancy and Reims had previously made the same announcement. “This competition has gradually turned into a human and environmental disaster, incompatible with the values that we want to see carried through sport and especially football”, explained the Marseille municipality, led by the socialist Benoît Payan, at the head of a broad left-wing and environmentalist coalition.
“Humanitarian aberrations”
“Marseille, strongly attached to the values of sharing and solidarity in sport and committed to building a greener city, cannot contribute to the promotion of this 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar”, the city insisted in a statement.
“I would really have the impression, if Bordeaux hosted these fan-zones, of being an accomplice” of “this sporting event which represents all humanitarian, ecological and sporting aberrations”, declared for his part the environmentalist mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic.
Many dead workers
Among the reasons for this boycott include the treatment of immigrant workers and the number of deaths in the construction of the eight stadiums of the World Cup. While the official death toll is only three, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported in a report that 50 workers died in workplace accidents in Qatar in 2020 and 500 were seriously injured, a figure that could be higher according to her, due to shortcomings in the accident recording system.
Apart from the question of human rights, the mayor of Bordeaux also refused to be“incoherent”in relation to the efforts required of the population in terms of “energy sobriety”. “You cannot call your fellow citizens to sobriety and yourself be complicit in energy aberration of this nature”, he defended, adding that “Those who awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010 were light years away from energy sobriety”.
The FFF is not worried
On Saturday, the socialist mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry, also announced that no giant screen would be installed, denouncing a“Nonsense with regard to human rights, the environment and sport”. A decision also taken in Rodez and Strasbourg, in particular.
On the side of the French Football Federation, we do not fear such a decision: “At this stage, the FFF will not communicate, says a source close to the Federation. It is a decision that is in tune with the times, full of demagoguery. It’s even more surprising for a city like Paris, which is happy to have Qatar supporting its football club. »
“If ever France wins the World Cup, it will be interesting to scrutinize the Twitter accounts of the big cities, which will undoubtedly find a parade to congratulate and celebrate the players of the France team, as it should be”, quips the source close to the FFF.
