TWB : The Ethics World cup | Creative Nation Magazine

It’s starting to feel old. Yet another week and yet another reason to question the ethics of those who govern football.

Author

S'bo Gyre

Published

March , 2022

Any new concerns have not come as a surprise to those with knowledge of the middle eastern country’s questionable human rights record. The football community’s passive resistance has also not been untrue to form. Money makes the football world go round and the Qatar is have lots of it.

The financial gains of a World Cup in Qatar have been far too tempting for FIFA to resist. An organization whose execution of its duty of care to its own players is questionable, to say the least, it somehow still shocks many that human rights violations are not top of their list of concerns when making such important endorsements. “In the prime of their lives” is the title of the report by Amnesty International that reveals the truth of how thousands of migrant workers have lost their lives whilst constructing the stadiums due to being used for the tournament. The number of deaths as of 2020 was 6 500 according to the UK publication, The Guardian.

From the acquisition of French club PSG to this tournament, the long build-up since Qatar was named as hosts has seen them become more aggressive in their sports-washing antics.It’s not uncommon now to see Qatar Airways as shirt sponsors and PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi is now chairman of the European Clubs Association (ECA). The fact that a financial doper will now oversee the dispensation of new Financial Fair Play rules is evidence of the vice the Qataris have over world football.

This isn’t to say the funds and resources plunged into the game have not been beneficial however the situation is ought to be looked at holistically. The question is what does football do in the immediate and long term?

Protests from players and FAs have been few and far between. The most overt opposition to Qatar hosting has been Norway. In 2021, Haaland and co wore training shirts written “Human Rights: On and off the pitch”. Denmark and The Netherlands have been the other two nations on record condemning FIFA and the state of Qatar.

England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed his players have been briefed by experts on social issues in Qatar. This commendable gesture should help footballers be more mindful of such issues and subsequently speak on them with a greater conviction of their stance. Footballers aren’t politicians but they are role models and public features. If they are to be vehicles to drive change, the fuel they need is expert-level knowledge to form unequivocal convictions on the matter.

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