2022 FIFA World Cup controversies

Qatar, the second-smallest country in the GCC, won the right to host the matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on December 2, 2010. The country hosts the international football tournament from November 21 to December 18 at eight stadiums in seven cities of Doha, Lusail, Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Umm Salal, and Madinat ash Shamal.

FIFA officially announced that the quadrennial international men's football championship would be played in November and December 2022, with the final match set for December 18, 2022 (Qatar National Day) to hold the tournament within 28 days.

However, numerous reports of corruption, cultural and political issues, as well as Qatar's limited football history have made this year’s soccer competition the most controversial in history.

The first point to make the

2022 FIFA World Cup

controversial is that it will not be played in summer, but in winter, from November to December. In the host country, the temperature reaches up to 40º or 50º Celsius, thereby making a summer tournament quite impossible.

Although there were a lot of doubts that Qatar could not host this global event and even some of the national football team's staff announced that they would not travel to the World Cup, they put their best foot forward in order to make this a successful event and overhauled the entire country and built some outrageous stadiums within a short period of time.

They have, meanwhile, been accused of violating human rights by the world. Let’s explain why this is the most controversial FIFA World Cup ever.

Controversies Surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2022:

If the tournament was to be played at the traditional, promised time of year, it would be in heat that averages 105 degrees Fahrenheit. To combat the heat problem, the solution was to switch the tournament to the winter, when the temperature is much more manageable.

Many people are also concerned about the political instability in the region, corruption scandals, human rights violations, alcohol ban, and lack of LGBTQ reform in Qatar.

Bribery & Corruption Allegations

One of the most important FIFA World Cup controversies is that Russia and Qatar were suspected of buying votes in an attempt to secure the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. After years of investigations and prosecutions, the United States Department of Justice ultimately announced that representatives of Russia and Qatar had bribed FIFA officials to get the right to host the World Cup in men’s football.

Before the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA commenced the process of selecting hosts for 2018 and 2022. For the 2018 World Cup bid, all non-UEFA nations withdrew their bid after a mutual agreement among nations. Thus, there were no UEFA nations bidding for hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, and the United States were in the running.

Serious allegations of bribery were made against FIFA as Qatar won the bid in 2010. Phaedra Almajid, a whistleblower, claimed African officials took $1.5 million to vote for Qatar. Despite the denials of all authorities, several more allegations substantiated these claims in 2014.

It was also reported that Jack Warner, FIFA’s vice-president during the bidding process, had received $2 million from a company linked to Qatar’s bid for the World Cup. Some more serious questions were also occasionally raised by large media outlets.

The suspicions were realized a week before the vote when two members of the 24-man FIFA executive committee were suspended after being identified by a Sunday Times investigative team offering votes for money. For many, it was the tip of the iceberg!

The Qatar 2022 bid committee strongly denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of any payments made on its behalf.

The Sunday Times, a British news outlet, made numerous revelations on a variety of topics that had led to serious allegations. They reported that Bin Hammam, the then President of the AFC, had bribed FIFA officials with $5 million and even contracted a former CIA agent to spy on FIFA officials.

Bin Hammam was a member of FIFA's powerful 24-person executive committee charged with voting on who hosted the finals at the time of the vote in 2010.

When FIFA voted on who should host the

2022 World Cup

in 2010, the organization’s president Sepp Blatter reportedly voted for the U.S., while a potential rival for the presidency, UEFA chief

, voted for Qatar.

The Sunday Times claimed to have seen millions of e-mails detailing payments to officials in the Caribbean, Africa, and the Pacific designed to secure support for the tiny, gas-rich Middle Eastern emirate's extravagant bid to host the world's most popular sports tournament.

Furthermore, they revealed that Qatar’s Al-Jazeera news channel struck a secret agreement with FIFA one month before the bidding process for hosting rights began.

According to the contract, Al-Jazeera will broadcast the 2022 World Cup and will pay $400 million for the rights. Out of this, $100 million will only be paid if Qatar hosts the tournament. Moreover, Al Jazeera promised $480 million to FIFA from Qatar’s government as part of the hosting agreement.

Qatar Credentials

Qatar shocked the world by winning the right to host the 2022 finals, defeating bids by the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. A technical report from FIFA called its bid "high risk" due to the country's small size and summer temperatures that can sometimes exceed 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). The issue was added to the

2022 FIFA World Cup controversies

.

As soon as Qatar’s name was announced as the host, the whole football community had a lackluster reaction. At the time of being awarded the tournament in 2010,

was ranked 113 in the world, and had never qualified for the World Cup before. Therefore, this is the first World Cup hosted by a nation that has never qualified for the competition.

According to many, playing conditions in Qatar also aren’t favorable. Middle-east is one of the most humid regions in the world, and footballers will have a tough time dealing with the heat there. The tournament is set to be held in November, but people are still expected to witness a significantly higher average temperature.

Given the summer temperatures in Qatar, the World Cup 2022 was moved to winter for the first time in its history. The tournament will kick off on November 20, 2022 and will run until the final on December 18, 2022.

To make the condition more complicated, drinking in a public place could result in a prison sentence of up to 6 months and/or a fine of up to QAR3,000.

Another

Qatar World Cup controversy

is that the sale of alcohol is restricted in the country and the price is relatively high. For the World Cup, it is expected that alcohol will be available in designated fan zones for lower prices than usual. However, drinking in public is not accepted.

Human Rights Violation

A number of controversies have surrounded the 2022 FIFA World Cup so far, however, one the most serious

2022 FIFA World Cup controversies

is Qatar’s alleged open violation of migrant workers’ rights.

For years, Qatar has been accused of human rights violations surrounding its efforts to construct the required infrastructure to host a World Cup.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, there are 1.7 million migrant workers in the country, accounting for over 90% of the workforce in a population of 2.9 million.

According to reports and some eyewitnesses, many workers have been enslaved by the Qatari government under the ‘Kafala System’ for building their infrastructure for the mega event.

However, the government of Qatar has denied all these allegations. Some investigations by media outlets and organizations have revealed that workers have been exploited and kept as prisoners without any contact with the rest of the world. Even the Nepalese ambassador in Qatar commented on the situation, describing it as an ‘Open Jail’ for workers.

According to reports, 400 Nepalese migrant workers have died in construction in Qatar since the World Cup bid was won. That would be bad enough, but the Nepalese only comprise around 20% of the workforce, often forced to operate in dreadful conditions. According to some reports, the 2022 World Cup has risked 4,000 lives so far.

People should not die to bring us this or any other World Cup or sporting event; not a single worker died building the sites for the London 2012 Olympics. Many believe that this will be a World Cup built on blood, which is by no means acceptable!

Some others think that the event has helped the country to elevate its standards. For example, the U.S. Soccer spokesman, Neil Buethe, said that “Qatar has made more progress with respect to human rights in the last four years than it has in the last four decades because it is hosting the World Cup.”

Players’ Boycott Campaign

People involved in football including players and officials all expressed strong opinions regarding the ongoing human rights violations in Qatar. They announced that Qatar is a controversial venue for 2022 World Cup. Teams like

,

, and

wore human rights t-shirts during

FIFA world cup 2022 qualifiers

, protesting Qatar’s terrible treatment of workers.

Influential players like

openly called out the authorities in interviews. He said, “Human rights should play the biggest role in the awarding of a tournament. If a country is awarded the contract that is one of the worst performers in this regard, you start to think about the criteria used to make the decision. That shouldn’t happen again in the future. Human rights, sustainability, the size of the country… none of that seems to have played a role.”

The tournament will be held as planned, but the

controversies surrounding the FIFA world cup

will be remembered for years to come. Fans are excited for the tournament, as it might be the last opportunity to see many great players like

,

,

, and several others in an international event. But the dark side of the tournament can’t be forgotten.

The opening match and ceremony of this year's tournament at Al Bayt Stadium have been brought forward a day following a unanimous decision taken by FIFA; Qatar vs Ecuador will kick off the tournament on 20 November; Senegal will lock horn with the Netherlands at 7 pm (4 pm UK time) on 21 November.

It seemed a bit of a strange decision that the World Cup was due to start with a game between

and Holland, and we weren't going to watch the opening ceremony until Qatar played later that day.

Infrastructure

Among the 2022 FIFA World Cup controversies is the host country’s infrastructure. Qatar’s bid to FIFA is considered a “bold gamble” to bring world football to the Gulf nation, but that gamble was underwritten by an estimated $200 billion-plus infrastructure package that, at the time, was deemed vital to national interest and foreign policy objectives.

Qatar is a country with no real football history, so it was hardly a surprise that there was no real infrastructure that could cope with an event the size of the World Cup.

It was estimated to cost about $220 billion (£138million) to build the stadia, hotels, and assorted other parts of infrastructure required. By way of comparison, it cost $3.5billion to prepare South Africa for the 2010 tournament.

Many believed that the money could be better spent on. The World Cup in Qatar takes place at eight stadia in November and December. Seven are new and one underwent a huge redevelopment to bring it up to capacity.

Ever since Qatar was controversially awarded the event by the world football governing body FIFA in December 2010, the country has been developing an infrastructure that is expected to be able to accommodate an anticipated 1.5 million visitors.

Organizers say it offers the chance to watch two matches on the same day, at brand new stadiums with inbuilt cooling technology, while still having some time for sightseeing and spending a few hours at the beach.

LGBTQ+ Rights

Last but not least, one of the important

2022 FIFA World Cup controversies

is that homosexuality is illegal in Qatar. The argument about whether the second-biggest sports tournament in the world, after the Olympics, should be held in such a country is definitely controversial.

In November, the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup will begin in Qatar, a country that represses the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and punishes same-sex relations with up to seven years in prison under article 285 of Qatar’s penal code.

Qatar has strict anti-LGBTQ+ laws. However, they have announced that they would comply with FIFA rules promoting tolerance and inclusion. Therefore, rainbow flags or other such symbols are not likely to cause a problem. But, public displays of affection are not tolerated. This is equally applicable to both heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Qatari authorities said that everyone will be welcome to Qatar in 2022, regardless of their race, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality. Knowing that it is a relatively conservative society, public displays of affection are not accepted in their culture.

They admitted that they believe in mutual respect and so while everyone is welcome, what they expect in return is for everyone to respect their culture and traditions.

However, many believe that freedom of expression and nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity should be guaranteed for all Qataris, not just spectators and tourists flocking to Qatar for the World Cup.

To sum up, we are now just a few weeks away from what will likely be one of the

most

controversial World Cups in history

. There is no doubt that the 2022 World Cup will be an incredible spectacle, making Qatar a successful global sporting hub.

However, the unresolved argument for many critics is how far a nation should go to host such a prestigious event, and if all the injustices can be forgotten or forgiven for the sake of a football tournament!

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