The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, sent a letter to all 32 teams during the Qatar World Cup, requesting that they refrain from mixing politics and football throughout the tournament. One more controversy surrounding the World Cup in Qatar has arisen prior to the tournament’s start.
The latest controversy took place last night after FIFA president Gianni Infantino sent letters to all 32 teams. In the letter, he said that it is known that football does not live in a vacuum. Everybody equally faces challenges and everyone is together while facing the challenges which are political in nature. He asked the 32 teams to not involve football in the ideologies or the political battles. He said he respects everyone’s opinions, but he wants football which would not create political conflicts.
The Qatar World Cup 2022 has been subject to criticism due to multiple reasons. The Qatar World Cup is already being described as controversial even before it has begun. This edition of the FIFA World Cup is different for multiple reasons. The fact that this World Cup is played the mid-season with respect to European Football.Â
2010 marked the beginning of the conflicts. The year in question was the one in which Qatar was announced as the winner of the bid to host the World Cup. Since then, Qatar has been the target of criticism from humanitarian organizations and those advocating for human rights.
It is said that Qatar hired more than 30000 workers from the Indian Subcontinent to build seven stadiums, metros, and more than 100 hotels for the world cup. But these laborers faced many challenges while working. It is estimated that more than 6000 workers have died during the development of Qatar for the World Cup. These numbers are only applicable to migrant workers. These workers left their own country for employment opportunities and faced inhuman conditions and challenges. All these workers belonged to countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc.
Some workers are not even paid their basic salary. They have a deplorable standard of living. This continues to be avoided and unanswered by the Qatar Government. There are also concerns about the working conditions for the construction workers who are building the stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup. Human rights groups have accused Qatar of using forced labor to build the World Cup stadiums and of not providing adequate working conditions for the laborers. Qatar has denied these allegations.
The country of Qatar is Islamic and is strictly against the rights of the LGBTQIA+ communities as the Islam religion doesn’t support homosexuality. It has been under stern criticism that homosexual people are not happy that an event this big is set up in a country where homosexuality is banned.
The Qatar World Cup is set to be one of the most controversial sporting events in history. The small, oil-rich nation of Qatar was awarded the hosting rights to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in 2010, beating out bids from the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Qatar has never before hosted a major sporting event, and many are questioning whether the country is prepared to host a tournament of this magnitude.Â
There are concerns about the heat, as Qatar is located in the desert and temperatures can reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There are concerns that the presence of alcohol and Western visitors could lead to social unrest. There are also concerns that Qatar’s strict Islamic laws could clash with the more liberal values of some World Cup visitors. Qatar has said that it will relax its laws during the World Cup, but some are skeptical that this will happen.
Many teams and brands have tried their best to boycott the World Cup, but the world cup is going ahead as planned. National Teams are planning to wear rainbow bands to spread awareness about homosexuality.
Also, Fifa officials were accused of being bribed after the initial decision to award Qatar the event, but an independent investigation commissioned by Fifa found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing.
The event was held in the Middle Eastern nation, according to Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, because of “money” and “commercial interests.”
Given the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community in Qatar, England manager Gareth Southgate said it would be “a big tragedy” if some England fans felt they could not attend the World Cup out of concern for their safety.
The World Cup starts in a few days on the 20th of November. It is to be seen how national teams react to these issues.
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