Should a new set of rules be developed which will force FIFA, football's international governing body, to follow certain guidelines when awarding a country the right to host the World Cup? Does the world want the World Cup to be held in intolerant authoritarian nations which do not allow their citizens to practice the freedoms and liberties which those who live in democratic societies take for granted?
Held every 4 years, the World Cup is a huge celebratory event, highlighting the most popular sport in the world. A sporting event of such popularity and magnitude, which bestows great international prestige, on the host country should not be compromised by authoritarian rulers.
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| A football stadium under construction in Qatar |
Authoritarianism, corruption and awarding the 2022 World Cup
Awarding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was a colossal mistake. The Arab Gulf state is ruled by an authoritarian regime which tolerates no dissent. The al-Thani monarchy suppresses women's rights and those of members of the LGBTQ+ community. One family should not have the type of control it has has wielded prior to and during the 2022 World Cup.
We should ask how and why Qatar was awarded the right to host the World Cup. It seems that corruption played a major role as the 22 member FIFA board of directors was wined and dined by the Qatari regime for a lengthy period of time running up to issuing the award. Two members of the FIFA board were dismissed due to accusations they sold their votes for holding the World Cup in Qatar. Plot to buy the World Cup
Qatar, a country the size of Connecticut, was the most unlikely venue for the 2022 World Cup when it received the award in 2010. First, it had no infrastructure where football games could be played. Second, its national team was virtually unknown in international competition. Finally, it has a small population (87% of the local residents are migrant workers) who, to this day, show little interest in football. Indeed, the fans who attended the Qatari team's games (both of which the national team lost), were actually Lebanese who were hired as surrogates for the Qataris who declined to attend their home team's matches.
That Qatar spent more than $220 billion to prepare for the World Cup, including renovating its sole stadium and building 7 new ones, demonstrates the extent to which it sought to use the sporting event to promote its influence in the Arab Gulf and project it onto the world stage. Surrounded by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which imposed an embargo on Qatar until recently due to its support of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt in 2012-2013, the small emirate finds itself largely isolated in the Arab Gulf. Thus, football was not the motivating factor for Qatar in using its huge fossil fuel wealth to buy local and international influence and prestige. Qatar has spent well over $220 billion on a flawed world cup
The migrant worker scandal
By the regime's own reckoning, large numbers of migrant workers who were employed to build the stadium and other infrastructure for the World Cup either lost their lives. Other workers suffered heat prostration whose damaging health effects will not become manifest until later in their lives. Only after international pressure did Qatar agree to improve working conditions for migrant labor. Even so, the pressure to complete preparations for the 2022 World Cup still led migrant labor to be exploited.Fact Check: How many people died for the World Cup in Qatar?
According to Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of economic and social justice, “The continued debate around the number of workers who have died in the preparation of the World Cup exposes the stark reality that so many bereaved families are still waiting for truth and justice. Over the last decade, thousands of workers have returned home in coffins, with no explanation given to their loved ones.” Qatar official says ‘400-500’ migrant workers died on World Cup projects
The Role of FIFA in World Cup awards
FIFA has made huge profits from the 2022 World Cup. However, these profits were not only made at the expenses fo the health and lives of low paid workers, who were paid as low as $10/hr and labored under abysmal working conditions. It was only after an international outcry and pressure on FIFA, that working conditions were marginally improved by the Qatari regime. FIFA earns record $7.5bn revenue for Qatar World Cup
In an effort to placate the Qatari regime, FIFA outlawed armbands celebrating LGBTQ+ rights. Indeed, fans who wore such armbands, or any other clothing which indicated support for the LGBTQ+ community, were forced to remove and dispose of the item deemed unacceptable to the regime. There was no tolerance evident at the 2022 World Cup nor was free speech allowed. These failures are FIFA's responsibility.
The need for a new institutional order for hosting the World Cup
There is already talk that Saudi Arabia would like to host the 2030 World Cup. The kingdom's ruler, Prime Minister Muhammad bin Salman (MBS), ordered the killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist who worked for the Washington Post and also held American citizenship. To award Saudi Arabia the right to host. the 2030 World Cup when MBS has faced no consequences for Khashoggi's murder would be obscene.
The European Union, the United States and other democratic countries should ban together and notify FIFA that their national teams will boycott all future World Cups held in nation-states controlled by authoritarian rulers who suppress democratic freedoms and engage in human rights abuses.
Before the 2022 World Cup recedes from the mass media and global consciousness, new rules should be hammered out with FIFA to make sure that the Qatar model is never used again. Th World Cup must always be an event that all countries can be proud of, including the citizens of authoritarian dictatorships.
