The FIFA World Cup is a worldwide tournament watched by billions of people around the world. Whether is it online or in person, there are a range of emotions that come about from watching a universal sport. Despite any situations a strong will to support their country will never go away, Whenever it is , wherever it is. However, while intense football tournaments go on for days and weeks, is there a big secret hiding away from everyone, especially football fans?
So what actually happened? As you may know, the World Cup was hosted in Qatar and as the host nation of the biggest sports tournament in the world, Qatar has had a questionable approach to human rights . An example of this is the rights of the LGBTQ+ community to express themselves freely. In this particular nation, Qatar, homosexuality is illegal thus is it an offence to be gay. Furthermore, it is illegal to have a relationship with the same gender. In an interview, Qatar’s energy minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said that though LGBTQ people were welcome to visit Qatar, western countries cannot “dictate” support for LGBTQ rights.
Another major example, is the number of deaths that occurred due to poor working conditions when building the eight stadiums for this FIFA World Cup. These are: Al Bayt Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Al Thumma stadium, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium , Lusail Stadium, Stadium 974 , Education city Stadium and Al Janoub Stadium. During the construction of these eight venues, ( according to international TUC ) over 4,000 migrants and immigrants have risked their lives. It is believed that over 400 innocent workers passed away during this event due to poor health and safety in and around these sites. Though football, particularly the World Cup, is a big part of people’s lives including myself, it is nothing compared to innocent lives being lost. The government of Qatar said it's labour system was 'still a work in progress' but denied allegations in the report that thousands of migrant workers in the 2022 World Cup host nation were being trapped and exploited.
Overall, there have been many incidents “behind the scenes” of the FIFA World Cup 2022 and some of which I have stated in this article. Even though this world cup is an occasion for the nations to play games of football and fight for the famous gold cup, we must not forget the traumatic events that have occurred at this world wide tournament.
I have all respect for anyone who is against this world cup controversy , such as players like Harry Kane. We should try to enjoy and commemorate these historical moments as the world cup only comes about every 4 years. However, if we really want to make a change, maybe more footballers and teams across the world should unite.
Written by :Tamim
Edited by : Tasnima