Cristiana Moldovan (12) | STAFF REPORTER
Sportswashing can be defined as the expulsion of sporting events to enhance or improve tarnished reputations, and nowhere is it more prevalent than at the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.
When Qatar was announced as the host country for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, ethical concerns were made.
The issues were primarily regarding the working conditions and treatment of workers. Migrant workers were brought from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal for the refurbishment of the Khalifa Stadium and the surrounding areas known as the “Aspire Zone”. Many of these workers were subjected to forced labour; they couldn’t change their jobs, they couldn’t leave the country; and they waited months to get paid. Currently, 90% of the Qatari workforce is made of migrant workers and around 3 000 migrant workers worked on the Khalifa Stadium.
Secondly, the life-threatening heat was also of prime concern. The average temperatures in Qatar from May to September are 45°C, while the average temperatures in November are around 30°C.
Lastly, advocates, activists, and the European teams and coaches who had intended to wear the One Love armband opposed Qatar’s homophobic laws. FIFA had banned the movement, and in protest after their game against Japan on November 23rd, the German team placed their right hands over their mouths. They later posted a picture captioned, “Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.”
Countries have been using FIFA as a polish over their corruption since its conception. Examples include the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina during its fascist dictatorship, held in a stadium across the street from a military prison and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
As far as controversy goes, 34 assumed deaths (a statistic posted by the Qatari press) related to the working conditions of workers is enough to claim that the 2022 FIFA World Cup is an addition to a long lineage of fraudulent events.
