World Cup

Cup controversy

Observers share thoughts on Qatar’s handling of the World Cup

Hosted every four years, the FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious soccer tournament in the world, in which 32 countries represented by their national teams compete over 30 days until one is crowned the world champion, receiving a trophy made of almost pure gold. Just as important as the event itself, however, is the host, as the selected nation must plan, design and put on 30 days worth of soccer, festivals and much more. e host of this year’s rendition was decided back in 2010, in which FIFA selected Qatar over the U.S. in the nal round of voting. It marked the rst time that a Middle-Eastern country would host the event, and the second for the continent of Asia. “Although it would have been nice to have the World Cup here in the U.S. this year, we did win the 2026 bid, so [Qatar] is alright with me,” junior Amr Mohamed said. When they received the bid one decade ago, Qatar realized that they would need to quickly build seven stadiums, 109 hotels and plenty of accessible transportation. To achieve this, they hired over 30,000 immigrant workers on stadiums alone, along with large portions of their already established migrant workforce. Unfortunately, according to some of the migrants that were interviewed by BBC during construction, workers faced poor living conditions, extreme heat and were shorted money they were promised by the government. “I most de nitely think that Qatar has mismanaged the situation,” junior Gurliv Gill said. “Being overworked and not being allowed to reach your family while abroad is terrifying. Reading about just what the workers faced sounds unreal because there is this notion that internationally, unfair working conditions have been discarded when that is not the case at all.” As a result, many workplace deaths occurred. While world cup o cials argued that the number was somewhere between 400 and 500, some western media outlets reported numbers in the thousands. Qatar has denied said claims, stating that the number of deaths matches past events of a similar scale. “I think there have been way more deaths than there have been accounted for,” Gill said. “Because why would Qatar openly admit to being responsible for all of the deaths? I think the number has to be equal to or greater than a thousand.” A er jumping the hurdle of building infrastructure, Qatar was then put on the spot about their LGBTQ record. e country’s religious code of law states that homosexuality is punishable by death, although no executions have ever been recorded. Qatar responded, stating that people identifying as LGBTQ would be allowed to attend and would not be discriminated against, but asked visitors to refrain from public acts of a ection in order to

Alex Duer duerale000@hsestudents.org

World Cup construction By the numbers:

$220b

In total spent by Qatar to stage the event, according to Forbes Magazine

2.45m

Total number of visitors through the rst 13 days of the event, according to FIFA.com

$600-1,600

Range of ticket prices for knockout stage matches converted into U.S. dollars from Qatari Rials by Forbes Magazine

Graphic of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

respect the country’s culture. “I think they are upholding that promise,” freshman Yanni Nahas said. “ ey are allowing LGBTQ people in to watch. I think it is a fair request because people need to respect the culture where they are.” Some fans and players did not take well to Qatar’s request, while many protested by wearing LGBTQ-related clothing and accessories, despite the country’s warning. While some see it as justi ed, others have defended the country. “It does not make sense to me why people feel the need to upset Qatari o cials by wearing pride-related clothing,” Nahas said. “ ey have no reason to show it o because no one cares.” In response, some fans from all across the globe banded together to boycott the games: some canceled their plans to go, while others abstained from watching entirely. Despite picking up some media attention, the boycotts have not seemed to a ect the procession of the games. “I do not think it changed much since most of FIFA’s revenue comes from sponsors and broadcast rights,” Mohamed said. “In 2018, $4.6 billion out of the $6.4 billion generated came from TV rights. It should not a ect them whether people decide to tune in or not.” With the power and in uence FIFA has, Mohamed believes that the controversy of this year’s World Cup will not be overly signi cant going forward. “ ere has been controversy, but I do not believe it has damaged their reputation because this has happened in the past,” Mohamad said in relation to the cups held in 1978 and 2018. “Being one of the most in uential organizations in the world, it is not surprising that no one has challenged them yet.” Qatar’s code of law states that Homosexuality is punishable by death, but executions have never been conducted. The country stated that LGBTQ people would be allowed, but some questioned whether they would go through with that promise. Flag images courtesy of Wikimedia commons.

Qatar at a glimpse

The sun shines over Khalifa stadium during a match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Khalifa stadium was one of the two already built stadiums in Qatar, but received renovations for the cup. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons. A panoramic view of Doha reveals the bright and modern skyline of Qatar’s capital city. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.