Why I will not be watching the Qatar World Cup

 About a year ago I made a decision that I was not going to watch the Men’s FIFA World Cup when the money-making circus rolled around to Qatar in 2022.

I can say right away that I don’t expect my decision to have the tiniest effect on the global juggernaut. I know it will barely make a ripple on the cess-pool of social media. However, my conscience tells me that I must do something.

 Much of the reporting of the World Cup prior to it opening has been a muddying of moral issues to justify complete participation.

I believe that to allow a country such as Qatar that has an appalling record in human rights and a mediaeval attitude to some members of society is morally wrong. A moral issue such as this is non-negotiable.

 Such arguments include one along the lines that the decision was made to award hosting twelve years ago and nothing can be done about it now. This is not true. The tournament would be an economic failure without the participation of the major TV watching countries. All it would have taken was for the national associations of England, Germany, Spain, Brazil and France to withdraw their teams and TV companies would have started to withdraw their support. A decision such as this could have been taken at any point in the last twelve years. The reason it has not happened is that football associations stand to gain more financially from participation and fear censure from FIFA. Money means that decision makers overlook the clear faults of the host nation.

Keep your head down, get the job done, take the money.

 A second theme of media reporting has been to approach the coaches for their opinions. The most common response is that they are not politicians, and must focus on football. The fact that they have all received extensive media training and are public figures in positions of importance is glossed over.

Coaches, too, fear time in the footballing wilderness if they speak out.

Keep your head down, get the job done, take the money.

 

It seems that the major TV companies are keen for content around this issue but don’t want to talk about the number of construction workers who have died, so interview footballers instead. The response from players that I have heard the most is that they are ‘just doing their job.’ This old chestnut is a favourite of countless people through history. ‘I didn’t realise I was persecuting people, I was just doing what I was told.’ You’ve heard it all before.

There is a suggestion that we shouldn’t put players in a difficult position by asking them difficult questions. I have very little sympathy. If someone gives Jordan Henderson a hard time, he can be consoled by the £7.2 million in wages he gets from Liverpool this year, plus his appearance fees for England. I’m sure he will get over it.

Keep your head down, get the job done, take the money.

 The tightrope walking from TV journalists has been a major feature. Gary Lineker’s careful positioning is something to behold. He will go to the games, because that is his job. He will report on the games, then return to his hotel room, and that’s it. He is fulfilling the terms of his contract(s) but no more. All admirable in its way.

If he really felt solidarity with the people who have been exploited, and the minority groups who are discriminated against in Qatar, he would donate his fee to a charity.

Keep your head down, get the job done, take the money.

 There are two things that I can’t stand about this whole charade. The first and most important is the way Qatar treats people.

The second is the joke that the Western media care at all about it. All they are doing are trying to make themselves, and everyone else, feel OK about it.

 

I will not be watching this World Cup because of the way that Qatar’s laws treat migrant workers like slaves.

I will not be watching this World Cup because FIFA is a corrupt institution that should be shunned.

I will not be watching this World Cup because Qatar has an inhuman attitude to LGBTQ+ people.

Football is a global game for everybody. It should not have been sold for the biggest bribe.

 Further reading:

 https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/north-africa/qatar

 https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/qatar-football-world-cup-2022