The World Cup in Qatar - a Question of Values?

Football meets international politics. So what do we think about the World Cup in Qatar? The tournament starts on Sunday when hosts Qatar play Ecuador. We are all aware of the concerns about holding the tournament there – why Qatar was awarded the World Cup in the first place, issues about treatment of migrant workers, women’s rights, LGBT+ persecution, repression of political dissent. Given that the tournament will go ahead, what is your view? Will you boycott it, as in not follow it on TV? Reprimand others for watching it because doing so turns a blind eye to abuses of human rights? Or accept that it should go ahead and use the power of football to shine a spot-light on abuses and encourage liberalisation and reforms in Qatar? This is the view taken by the football community led by the players and their football associations. “We believe in the power of football to make further positive and credible contributions to progressive sustainable change in the world.” Go to www.football4community.co.uk to find out more. A group of major European national football associations have demanded that FIFA meets its commitment in urging Qatar to ensure workers’ rights ahead of the World Cup. The 10-country group — which includes the FAs of England and Wales — urged FIFA to encourage the establishment of a workers’ rights institution in Qatar and an effective compensation fund for migrant workers. The FAs of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland are also part of the group. “We acknowledge, and welcome, as we have done in the past, that significant progress has been made by Qatar, particularly with regards to the rights of migrant workers, with the impact of legislative changes demonstrated in the International Labour Organisation’s recent reports,” the FAs said in a statement. “We welcome the assurances given by the Qatari Government and by FIFA regarding the safety, security and inclusion of all fans who travel to the World Cup. “However, embracing diversity and tolerance also means supporting human rights. Human rights are universal and they apply everywhere. “We will continue to support the momentum for positive, progressive change and continue to advocate for a conclusive outcome and update on the two key outstanding issues we have been discussing with FIFA for a long time. “FIFA has repeatedly committed to deliver concrete answers on these issues — the compensation fund for migrant workers, and the concept of a migrant workers center to be created in Doha — and we will continue to press for these to be delivered. “We believe in the power of football to make further positive and credible contributions to progressive sustainable change in the world.” See the collective statement by the Australian national team the Socceroos here