World Cup Qatar 2022 | Celebrities who call for a boycott

Qatar is days away from becoming the center of the universe. On November 20, the World Cup will begin and it will receive millions of fans of all colors, of opposite ideas, of different origins… The most surprising thing is that this is what worries the local authorities. Very conservative, the Qataris boast a culture that despises women and condemns homosexuality, for example, with sentences of up to five years in prison.

Despite this attack on human rights and accusations of fraud in the venue election, FIFA gave the go-ahead for Qatari petrodollars. In recent months, protests from all areas of society have multiplied, including various football federations. Thus, Denmark will go to the World Cup with a shirt where the country’s emblems are not distinguished (they do not want to be linked to them), England will wear a rainbow bracelet… These reactions are motivated, in part, by statements such as those of Khalid Salman, Championship Ambassador. When talking about homosexuality, he brought up the term ‘haram’. Asked specifically about its meaning, the Qatari ambassador responded forcefully: “I am not a strict Muslim, but it is a mental deviation.”

The controversies continued day by day. The truth is that since work began on the large infrastructure necessary to host the championship, nearly 6,500 migrants have lost their lives, according to ‘The Guardian’. So singers like Rod Stewart and Dua Lipa, footballers like Toni Kroos, coaches and fans, or celebrities like Ibai Llanos, have decided to boycott the event.

Most prominent people in the world of football:

Why do footballers speak so highly of Qatar? It is one of the questions that most football fans who live in countries with full democracies where human rights are respected are asked. The answer was given by the expert in Social Anthropology Alberto del Campo Tejedor in an article published last Thursday in this newspaper: “Petrodollars buy silence and promote flattering speeches with a country far from democratic standards.”

There are clear examples, like Beckham, named World Cup ambassador, or stars like Xavi or Guardiola. When Xabi was coach of Al-Saad, he stated that Qatar worked better than Spain. Here there were “political prisoners” like Junqueras. While the Qatari emirate offered tranquility and security. “People are happy,” he even said. Guardiola, who was named ambassador of the Qatari candidacy in his day, also affirmed that there “people have freedom.”

In football, however, there are more faces that have chosen to boycott or protest the choice of Qatar as the venue for the World Cup. Germany, England and the northern European countries are the most critical. world champions like
Toni Kroos o
Philipp Lahm They already regretted the choice. “Immigrants work in unacceptable conditions, at 50ºC and with insufficient food,” denounced the Real Madrid footballer, already retired from the German team.

In Europe in general, the rainbow bracelet campaign is already triumphing. The captains of England, Germany, France, Denmark -who will also wear a shirt without advertising in protest-, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland will wear the colors that represent the LGTBI collective in Qatar. Spain, for now, will not join this movement.

And from the footballers, to the coaches. Most national team and major league coaches have opted for silence, but others have not bitten their tongues. It is the case of
Jorge Sampaolicurrent Sevilla coach, who stated that the choice of Qatar as the venue was “for money (money) and for business.”

The Liverpool coach has gone further.
Jurgen Klopp He made self-criticism: «There have been many opportunities to denounce them, but many people have made money for the wrong reasons. We are all guilty.” The Dutch coach and former Barça coach
Louis van Gaal He proposed creating a compensation fund of more than 400 million euros for the families of the workers who died in the construction of the stadiums.

Banner unfurled by Norwegian Rosenborg fans.

The fans are the other leg that supports the World Cup, and an important part of them disagrees. At least in Germany, where half of the viewers will have a ‘blackout’, according to public television ARD. In this country, two of the fans with the most impact in Europe, such as those of Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich, have already expressed their rejection of the celebration of the World Cup in Qatar and have asked the rest of the fans to join the ‘ blackout’.

In Norway, Rosenborg fans staged a mosaic showing current FIFA president Gianni Infantino shaking hands with an Arab sheikh. On the banner are dozens of graves, in reference to the dead immigrant workers, and the words ‘Boycott Qatar 2022’.

The protests extend to celebrities outside of football:

Rod Stewart was chosen to perform at the World Cup opening ceremony, but the “principles” of the British singer have outweighed the million dollars that the sheikhs have put on the table. Shakira will be his replacement.

The sit-ins in the world of music go beyond the one starring Rod Stewart. Dua Lipa has not even considered performing at the opening ceremony and, in fact, has stated that she will not travel to Qatar until they respect human rights.

The profession of ‘streamers’ is rather recent, but its impact on society is brutal. The ‘youtubers’, ‘influencers’, ‘streamers’, and others, are also invited to Qatar. Local authorities know of its potential and scope among young people, and do not want to waste that cartridge. But not all will come. The Spaniard Ibai Llanos, the most famous in our country, publicly rejected his participation: “It doesn’t get crazy for me to go and I’m not going to do it.” And, by the way, he invited his Internet ‘colleagues’ to join the rejection.