The least loved and most controversial World Cup in the history of FIFA will kick off in Al Bayt on Sunday. The beleaguered Qatari hosts hope that the football will distract from the uncomfortable focus on their country’s dismaying human rights record and sustained international critiques which Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani recently described as “an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced.”
If there is truth in that statement, it is because since FIFA made the shock decision, in December of 2010, to award the tournament to Qatar – whose bid was deemed ‘high risk’– it has been become a story of root and branch corruption within FIFA, appalling working conditions for migrant workers and Qatar’s unyielding defence of its prevailing views on homosexuality and the repression of women’s rights.
There is an increasing likelihood that the Qatar World Cup will be remembered for the political demonstrations of its participating teams. Eight European countries have declared their intention to wear One Love armbands to emphasise their support for the LGBTI+ community, whose safety cannot be guaranteed in Qatar.
Qatar has spent an estimated $200 billion to prepare for this World Cup. The previous tournament, held in Russia, cost around $11 billion. The tiny country has laid down a new transport network, a new airport and new hotels as a backdrop to the eight football stadiums. The new venues are architectural splendours. But they stand as emblems of a decade-long tale of punitive and often lethal working and living conditions for the flood of migrant workers.
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Qatar’s organising committee will confirm only three stadium-related deaths. But a Guardian report estimated that over 6,000 workers had died from just four countries- Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Amnesty reported that some 100,000 workers were exploited through negligible pay, unpaid overtime and appalling living conditions. Qatar implemented none of the human rights clauses FIFA stipulated after awarding the Gulf emirate their tournament. Through international pressure, the workers’ conditions and pay did improve in recent years. But nothing will erase the shocking toll of life that underwrites this tournament.
The 32 competing nations may have debated the morality of participating. None have boycotted. Hotel availability, the negative depiction and the costs – a single beer in the fan zone will cost $12 – have prompted many fans to give Qatar a skip. The moral queasiness of being there is another contributory factor. While the Qatari hosts maintain their upbeat vows that they will stage a brilliant World Cup, they are discovering, even on the eve of the tournament, that joy and goodwill are not commodities which can be bought.