Qatar’s mirage of sporting achievement
Daman Singh
chandigarh, december 25
The so-called “best ever” World Cup is over. Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players to have graced the game, returned home to a crazy welcome after fulfilling the desire of the collective psyche of the football world by lifting the 18-carat golden trophy after a historic, destiny-ordained final.
The memories of the World Cup in Qatar are abounding. It has been successful in searing into the minds the highest quality of thrills, chills and soul-sagging heartbreaks the game can offer. The football was great and stadiums sumptuous.
The Gulf country certainly did a commendable job of hosting the showpiece, but only in footballing terms. On-field drama aside, it was clinical in putting a garb — mind you, Messi wasn’t the only one to be draped in a bisht — on the cavalcade of controversies that tarnished its image as the host.
It wasn’t something new, though. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil also faced global outrage over the displacement of millions of blue-collar workers as new infrastructure sprouted, while the Russia World Cup sparked talks of FIFA’s close relations with autocratic leaders.
In Qatar’s case, the first wisps of controversies began to emerge in 2010 when the tiny nation was awarded the hosting rights ahead of the USA, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
Despite several red flags in FIFA’s technical report during the bidding process, Qatar won the hosting rights. What followed next were allegations of bribery and corruption by top FIFA officials, which went on till 2020, with the US Department of Justice alleging that bribes were accepted as part of the voting process to elect Qatar as the host — a claim denied by Qatari officials. The sweltering climate and cramming a winter World Cup into an already-exhaustive schedule were the other issues raised.
Glossing over
It is understandable that the majority of the international scrutiny came from the West, given the fact that most Gulf nations are not perceived with particular admiration overseas. The perception mostly stems from the disregard for human rights — one of the hottest topics discussed and reported on around the World Cup by media outlets.
One doesn’t have to look far to see why the gas-rich nation has invested so heavily in sports. The World Cup was the second large-scale event in three years there, following the 2019 World Athletics Championships. And it is no secret that major sporting events have become a tool for nations to improve their international image, work on geopolitical diplomacy, progress economically and enhance visibility in international affairs — and Qatar has ticked all the boxes.
Human rights activists say this $200 billion World Cup was erected on the skeletons of migrant labourers, for which Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy put the death count somewhere “between 400 and 500”. This was a drastic plunge from the count the Guardian newspaper reported — 6,000 since 2010.
The nation’s disregard for migrant workers’ rights is well-known. Amnesty International, too, had highlighted the plight of workers. This included wage theft, outrageous working hours and mental and sexual abuse. And it was only in recent years the Kafala system, a legal framework which gives a company monopoly over workers’ lives, was reformed. Perhaps the world’s gaze in the lead-up to the tournament prompted officials to reconsider the country’s migrant labour system. Not only this, a new labour dispute committee was also established.
With FIFA president Gianni Infantino revealing the organisation raked in $7.5 billion in revenues from the tournament, it becomes clear why FIFA was so hell-bent on hosting the event in Qatar despite growing scandals. It also allowed FIFA to expand its market share in the Arab countries for future ventures.
Broad in its scope and ambitious in its goals, Qatar has opened the gates to tap into the Middle East’s resources, unlike its neighbours. It now seems it is Saudi Arabia’s turn to flex its muscles as it plots its bids to host the 2030 World Cup and 2036 Olympics.
