Qatar 2022 Misconducts: My Ethical Reasoning on How the International Community Should Act
On December 10, 2010, it was announced that Qatar will be hosting the 2022 World Cup. The president of FIFA at that time Sepp Blatter endorsed having the World Cup in the Arab World saying in April 2010: “The Arabic World deserves a World Cup They have 22 countries and have not had an opportunity to organize the tournament.” Blatter also praised Qatar’s progress regarding population and infrastructure. Blatter pointed to a successful World Cup in South Africa that summer as a reason why a World Cup in the Middle East should happen.
The idea of allowing different regions to host this major organized event is theoretically inclusive. The international community's love of soccer is something that brings it together. However, when looking at how commercialized the World Cup and Olympics have become in the 21st century, a state has to be able to adhere to the magnitude of the event commercially, with well-equip infrastructure. And in recent years, some of the nations granted permission to host the World Cup have lacked the necessary infrastructure at the time their bid was granted. Brazil’s public backlash to the money being poured into the building of stadiums is well documented. In order for Qatar to acquire they bribed members of the board of FIFA to vote for them to gain the right for the tournament. Now as we look forward to the 2022 World Cup Qatar (which will still be taking place despite the bribery), there have already been reports that more than 1,000 deaths during the construction of the stadiums have occurred (ESPN Trapped in Qatar). And some estimate that there will be as many as 4,000 before the first ball is kicked at the 2022 World Cup.
A report by Amnesty International shed light on the fact that migrant workers in Qatar are living in squalid cramped conditions, been unpaid for months on end, have had their passports confiscated, and have been denied exit visas.
FIFA and its sponsors claim that they are monitoring the situation closely and with concern. Yet, their actions show little to support that. FIFA has claimed that it is not their job to become involved in the internal political affairs of host countries. This is hypocritical because in 2014 they overturned a government-instituted ban on alcohol in stadiums in Brazil in order to sell beer for World Cup sponsor Budweiser. They also set up their own criminal courts in South Africa that sped up the judicial process to speeds that saw robbers being tried the next day beginning their 15-year sentence the day after.
Over 90% of Qatar’s population is migrant workers from Pakistan India and Bangladesh. This is not unusual for the Gulf States as most of them use migrant workers to build their infrastructure. These migrant workers must adhere to the system known as Kafala. Kafala is used in all Persian Gulf states to control and manage their huge migrant populations who build the countries instructor (What is Kafala? Tifo Football. YouTube)
This ideology of Kafala essentially means that an employer is solely responsible for that worker's visa and well-being. The system is popular with the citizens of Qatar because it allows them control over the migrant workers, even though the citizens of the state are ironically in the minority.
With all this in mind, any rational cosmopolitan would yell from hell and high-heavens for FIFA to intervene and provide aid and capital to assist that their stadiums get built and the migrant workers get humane treatment, proper compensation for their work, allowed control of their own passports, and be granted exit visas at their own wish. Yet, it is clear that FIFA’s more legalist outlook allows them the ethical platform to stand by their position of not wanted to infringe on Qatar’s sovereignty. Much like the case study on Corporate Social Responsibility, I’d argue that FIFA does have a responsibility to intervene and help these migrant workers before any more parish. FIFA’s legalist stance is so obvious hypocritical for the same reasons Shell’s stance was; they as the wealthy corporation are the ones providing the developing state with their means to suppress, undermine, take advantage of their migrant workers. So, ethically speaking it should also be their responsibility to make sure humanitarianism is present when building the stadiums for the tournament they will profit from.
Without Social Responsibility and ethical means of selection and execution for their tournaments, FIFA undermines itself as a non-profit organization. This unfortunately for many including myself then overshadows their on-field product and its world significance as a beloved international pastime.
In order for this to change, I feel it must come from the bottom up from the players and managers of each countries soccer/football federations. The United States for example failed to qualify for 2018’s world cup in Russia. This was seen as a disastrous event for US Soccer. So many fans and participants are eager to get back to the World Cup. Yet because of the state of Qatar and FIFA’s backing of their illegitimate bureaucracy, I am of the ethical belief that the United States even if able to qualify for the World Cup should not participate due to the ethical monstrosities committed by Qatar and the FIFA governing body. The USSF (United States Soccer Federation) would gain my respect and further my backing of its governing body. This stance would hopefully lead to other countries governing bodies the following suit.
Even though football is seen as an almost religious pass-time in most of the world. And winning the World Cup is the ultimate feeling of gratification for states to claim their international prowess, I’d still advise National Soccer federations in collaborations with their states’ government to boycott the World Cup in Qatar for humanitarian reasons and send a message to the corrupt governing body of world football FIFA.
Sources:
Al Jazeera Media Network:
Blatter reaches out to Arabia
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:
FIFA and the World Cup
South China Morning Post:
Fifa 2022 World Cup: Qatar is a bust, and we’re still four years away from the kick-off
Tifo Football Youtube Channel:
Qatar 2022: What is Kafala?
Qatar: Why We Should Be Boycotting the 2022 World Cup
