FIFA categorically rebuffed to strip Qatar of its hosting rights despite the gravity of immorality involved which has been publicly exposed. When Qatar officially obtained its independence in 1971, Doha consisted of a population of fewer than a hundred thousand people. Presently it has a larger population than all but 3 cities in the United States. Doha since 1971 has been transformed from a flat, arid, and not densely populated landscape into a modern mega city. The people responsible for the makeover were not Qatari citizens. but cheap imported labour, the intensity of the tawdriness being indistinguishable from a slave. Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world, however, the figure excludes non-Qatari citizens. Most of the migrant workers in Qatar belong to Southeast Asian countries, with mediocre income economies. People from these impoverished communities are recruited by contractors in Qatar, promotion salaries they can only dream of, and on the pretence that they could return home when they desired to.
The reality though tends to be rather miserable and bleak. Many migrant workers, including those responsible for the construction of the stadiums for the world cup, were misinformed by the terms of their employment upon their arrival in Qatar. There have been cases of contracts being worth a third or a quarter of what they were initially promised to allure them into the job. Wages were and in some cases as low as 250 dollars a month, typically for working more than 14 hours a day. The veracity of this is more adverse than on the surface, when migrant workers are recruited to relocate to Qatar, most of them either pay an up-front fee to their recruiters, or their travel, accommodation, and regular expenses are absorbed by their new employees. Those who pay Upfront struggle to recoup the expense realizing they could have earned the same in their country back home. Naturally, this is an environment that becomes inherently exploitative.
Just to comprehend, the work carried out by the migrant laborers is gruelling construction in unbearable temperatures, with virtually no time off, often underfed, surviving in a state of claustrophobia. In such a deplorable environment the sheer number of migrant workers' death should not come as a surprise. The figure of migrant workers dying in Qatar during the construction of the stadiums has been contentious, with the Qatari government being very aggressive in terms of its denial. The Guardian reported in February 2022, that approximately 6,500 workers had died in Qatar. The Qatari state disputes the numbers; however, the grieving families of the diseased can testify to the pain and suffering. The reason why the numbers and data are unnerving to verify and obtain is due to the lack of effort invested by the authorities to investigate a death of a migrant worker.
There has been an attempt to circulate a narrative regarding the appalling conditions of migrant workers. By propagating and claiming that due to the scrutiny and attention Qatar received due to its hosting the world cup, there has been substantial progress in Labour rights since and there have been legal regulations to prevent workers' exploitation. The reforms though are inconsequential in proportion to the severity of the exploitation, most of the reforms are just on paper and have not metalized into refining the appalling conditions of the migrant workers.
Whilst the evidence suggests that the corruption of Qatar’s bid and the inexcusable condition of the migrant worker, upon whom the gulf state is almost entirely dependent is reason enough, the biggest nail in the coffin is Qatar’s track record surrounding broader Human Rights, which is extremely divisive. For context, Qatar is an authoritarian monarchy, which is governed by the hereditary Amir, and thus all the executive, legislative, and, Judiciary powers in Qatar reside with the Royal ruling family. The standard of political, social, and press freedom in Qatar is dreadful to say the least, as is the case with most Islamic theocratic monarchies. The profound criticism of Qatar hosting the world cup is its treatment of women and the human rights of the LGBTQ community. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, with 3 years of imprisonment, and a possibility of execution for Muslims. Even campaigning for LGBTQ rights is prohibited under the law. FIFA by granting Qatar the right to host the world's biggest competition to a nation that proclaims, “you are gay you die”, inadvertently is endorsing such primitive regimes.
The argument that no country is flawless, holds substance as even Finland is not a perfect state, certainly, that is the case, however, it is disingenuous to suggest that all countries are equally unfit to host a world cup. FIFA amongst its four core principles promotes tolerance and inclusivity, which should be the most elementary and limited eligibility criteria, in such a case it should certainly rule out Qatar. The advocates of Qatar defend the country's regressive governance and laws, Homosexuality being illegal, the oppression of women and treating them as second-class citizens, and apostasy: the crime of abandoning the Islamic faith resulting in execution. The defenders of such practices claim that this is just the indoctrinated culture of the nation, which has to be respected, rather than being critical and imposing a set of “western values” on an Islamic country. On a personal note, this prerogative is by far the stupidest, most ridiculous, and abhorrent.
Comprehend, the fact that it is insulting to the people living in authoritarian regimes, whose opinions and personal beliefs value nadir and are dictated by autocracy, apparently masking it to be their culture. In the case of women, for instance, it is mandated by law to into having a male guardian whose permission they must obtain to get married, study abroad, work in the public sector, or travel abroad. There have numerous cases in which female migrant workers in Qatar have been raped, only to then be sentenced to imprisonment for being involved in sex, outside marriage, which is illegal in Qatar. Contemplate such practices and incidents masked and defended as integral to the Islamic nation’s culture, which is morally reprehensible.
On a personal suggestion, the most flagrantly, anti-democratic and authoritarian despots, dictators, and bigots are not the most suitable choices for football governing bodies to grant them an exhibition or a platform like a world cup and let capitalize it as a tool for propaganda and whitewashing their image and reputation. The 2022 world cup is a proper propaganda campaign, it will be tremendously sanitized as there will be an explicit attempt to mask the bigoted, impression that persists for optics.
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