Up to 4,000 migrant workers could be killed as a direct result of whole-scale infrastructure construction for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and “nothing of any substance is being done by the Qatar authorities on this issue” according to Sharan Burrow, the general secretary to the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC).
An investigation published in The Guardian last week, uncovered the mistreatment of migrants working in 40 degree heat, without water, on building sites due to become host venues of one of the world’s premier sporting events.
Qatar has never had an immaculate human rights record; despite being the first Arab nation to allow women the vote, the country still has a long journey of modernisation & liberalisation, while attempting to keep its Islamic identity.
Human rights activists have jumped on the back of Qatar’s questionable standards after the Guardian revealed migrant workers were having their passports and pay withheld. This has led to protests outside FIFAs headquarters in Zurich by the Swiss workers union and others.
FIFAs decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar has come under intense international scrutiny since the announcement was made in 2010 for a plethora of reasons.
Allegations of corruption had been levied at FIFA long before Qatari involvement on the world stage, yet this time around too much suspicion was aroused far too often.
Back in 2010, The Times published an article claiming that FIFA representatives Reynald Temarii of Tahiti and Amos Adamu of Nigeria offered to sell their votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to undercover reporters. Each was investigated, banned and fined accordingly, along with four other FIFA delegates. A further investigation from the BBC, which claimed a further three representatives offered to sell their vote, was brushed under the carpet by FIFA which claimed the matter was closed.
When Qatar was awarded the 2022 event, many could not quite understand the reasoning, especially after FIFA’s own technical report on the nation suggested the summer heat in the Middle East nation wouldn’t be safe for players or fans alike.
The world players union, Fifpro, has urged their members to boycott Qatar because of its 45-50 degree summer heat. There’s sufficient medical advice to suggest the issue will affect not only players but supporters as well.
Fifpro vice-president Philippe Piat said: “It’s serious and not only for the 22 players. There are other people involved. We have informed Uefa and Fifa that we would not play in the summer. We prefer to make our threat now so they won’t be able to say they had not been warned.”
FIFA President Sepp Blatter cleared the way for a winter world cup in July, saying: “The World Cup must be a festival of the people. But for it to be such a festival, you can’t play football in the [Qatari] summer.”
The possibility of Qatar 2022 being moved to the winter is now a realistic outcome, yet not one that would be internationally commended or be without repercussions or consequences.
The bidding process for the tournament was based on the event taking place throughout June and July. With the realistic possibility of a serious alteration to the calendar, the Australian Football Federation has threatened legal action.
Initially considered a leading contender in the race to host the tournament, the Australian bid didn’t get past the first round of voting, capturing a single pitiful vote out of a possible 22. As you would expect, this wasn’t something that was to go down too well in such a proud sporting nation – especially as the pathetic performance cost the Australian taxpayer in excess of $45 million Australian.
This is by no means the only economic issue aroused by a possible Qatar 2022 seasonal change. Broadcasting rights for the event have already been auctioned off for a summer world cup, and American broadcasters Fox and NBC would be stuck with attempting to sell advertising to the tournament with the added competition of the NFL regular season, Super Bowl, Confederations Cup, African Cup of Nations and possibly the Winter Olympics. This surely would affect advertising revenue streams for broadcasters and would undoubtedly lead to legal cases being brought forward should a viable conclusion not be reached between affected broadcasters and FIFA.
One of FIFA’s biggest issues would be attempting to persuade the major European football leagues, such as the English Premier League, La Liga and Serie A, to introduce a winter break into their calendar.
Players are contracted to play week in and week out for their club and only paid appearance fees for their nations, therefore, with the vast amount of money in top flight football these days, players sole responsibility is to their club and not their country. Their entire livelihood revolves around being available to play – so much so that anything more than a kick around in the garden with the children outside of the training ground is considered a breach of contract in most cases due to the possibility of injury.
As the winter break does not exist in any European league other than Germany’s Bundesliga, you can bet your bottom dollar that if the major European leagues cannot work a long enough winter break into their schedule, Qatar 2022 will be missing its most vital ingredient – not just a handful of international superstars, but a big bucketload.
This is why the prospect of a winter break is the only viable option open to FIFA and the respective leagues, associations and authorities alike to work around the issue.
So Qatar 2022 is facing three main threats to its credibility; its poor human rights record, allegations of corruption, and the sweltering summer Qatari heat. These three issues, however, all bring up other issues of their own such as economic and prestige.
Holding the World Cup seems like the real deal to Qatar. It’s a nation that takes itself seriously, from its Islamic identity to its state-owned news organisation Al-Jazeera. I have no doubts a middle eastern World Cup would be a first and an opportunity to spread football’s ever growing influence. And better still, a first for many football fans who would watch their team sober as a judge, probably for the first time in a long while.
