The latest edition of football’s showpiece event kicks off this weekend with 32 nations all vying to become the next world champion at the FIFA World Cup hosted for the first time in the Middle East state of Qatar. But the build-up to soccer’s premier event has been marred by accusations of appalling labour practices and dismal human rights violations.
Today’s opinion pieces focus on some of the allegations levelled at Qatar.
Business Day writes greater emphasis on sporting tradition and the importance of human and workers’ rights is needed when sports organisations choose a country to host a major event. The publication argues that many have wrestled with whether or not they should travel to Qatar to watch the world cup, while some are contemplating not even watching it on television.
Sportswashing was once a novel concept, an idea used to mask the gross rights violations committed by a country via the hosting of major sports tournaments, but it has become standard practice, writes The Guardian. Defenders of the concept say the spotlight that comes with hosting duties helps to speed up reform and the implementation of improved rights. While Qatar has introduced a very low minimum wage for migrant workers, the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup did little to bring rights improvements in Russia.
Pete Pattinson details the many allegations that have been reported by migrant workers, which include unpaid work, long hours, illegal recruitment practices, nationality discrimination, and more. Pattinson cites a report compiled by human rights group Equidem, while he notes there are also widespread calls for FIFA to set up a compensation fund for the migrant workers that built the stadiums and an entire city to host the tournament.
