The 2022 World Cup has kicked off in Qatar this week. A sporting event that is celebrated around the world every 4 years. However, this year it is surrounded by protests from both players and fans about the human rights in Qatar.
Qatar has been under scrutiny since the announcement that they would be hosting the 2022 Football World Cup. Many clubs, captains and players have actively protested against the treatment of migrant workers who helped build the stadiums, lack of LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights.
In Qatar, Homosexuality is a crime, and you will be punished if you are caught having a same sex relationship. The punishment being imprisonment for up to 5 years or you could receive the death penalty if you are Muslim. These extreme laws go against most countries who have legalised same sex marriage, many feel it is a step backwards to be celebrating and hosting worldwide events in countries that still have strict rules like this.
England had their first game against Iran on Tuesday (21st November). Their captain Harry Cane has been wearing a ‘one love’ rainbow armband in protest against the strict laws against the LGBTQ+ community. Clubs such as England have been subsequently warned about the consequences of wearing the armbands, they may risk being fined or even booked from a game. This has resulted in their team deciding not to wear them during their first game. A joint statement was released from associations of many teams that the sanctions suggested made them change their mind about wearing the bands.
Some teams still want to go ahead with wearing their armbands regardless of the punishment. The German Federation boss Bernd Neuendorf have reassured the team that they will still wear their armbands despite the unknown consequences. ‘Neuendorf said last week that this was a matter of “human rights” not a political matter’ 1 .
Furthermore, Qatar is facing questions about how the stadiums were built and the treatment of migrant workers who were forced to build it. An estimated 500,000 to 1.5 million migrant workers were employed to build the 8 stadiums, multiple hotels and roads in the run up to the World Cup. However, many of these workers were forced into labour, some were human trafficked and kept against their will. The legislation at the time meant that workers could not change jobs and were often left unpaid and living in awful conditions. Legislation changed in 2020 which gave workers more protection when working. However, charities such as Amnesty International have argued that further compensation is needed as the current one does not account for the years of abuse that was faced.
In Qatar, women still have very limited rights. They have to conform to a male guardianship system. This means that many of their basic rights are allowed under the permission of a male guardian. This contradicts many countries’ rules about gender equality which is why many have raised arguments about it. Laws also mean there is a lack of protection for a woman if she were to report something such as sexual abuse. Moreover, access to health care such as emergency contraception is very hard to access without permission from a male guardian and marriage certificate.
In conclusion, there is a lot of information going around about the reasons to support or not to support the world cup this year. It is important to read up on situations like this before concluding on an answer so hopefully this has highlighted some of the key reasons why people are not supporting the sporting event this year.
1 J.Whitehead, The Athletic, Human Rights at the Qatar World Cup – a guide to everything you need to know, Nov 19 2022
https://en.as.com/soccer/human-rights-protests-reactions-qatar-world-cup-2022-lgbtq-armbands-rainbow-flags-n/ (image link)