Qatar: Is this the most politicized soccer World Cup ever?

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is once again in the headlines that FIFA and its organizers were hoping to avoid.

 Just two weeks before the opening match of the World Cup, another controversy erupted when one of the tournament's official ambassadors described homosexuality as a 'disorder of the mind'.

 A statement by former Qatar international Khaled Salman to German broadcaster DedDF has added to a growing list of issues surrounding the World Cup, including workers' rights, freedom of expression and the war in Ukraine.

 The growing controversy has led some to call it the most politicized World Cup in history.

 "Gay Rights"

 Paul Aman, founder of Liverpool Football Club's gay group and group Co-op Out, says: 'I initially hoped that it would improve the lives of migrant workers, as well as the betterment of gay people in society. Will take any steps.'

 She was invited to Qatar in 2019 with her husband as part of the World Cup Organizing Committee's hosting tour.

 Promoting same-sex and same-sex relationships is illegal in Qatar, with penalties ranging from fines to the death penalty.

 But World Cup organizers say 'everyone is welcome' to travel to Qatar to watch the match and claim no one will be discriminated against.

 But incidents like Khalid Salman's interview have crushed Paul's initial hopes for the competition.

"Sadly, since pressure has been put in place to improve matters, Qatar has doubled down on discrimination against gay people," he says.

 Reports of gay men being jailed and using therapy to change their sexual orientation mean Paul will no longer be thinking about going to the World Cup.

 "It is unreasonable to think about participating in the football World Cup now because it is clear that the Qatari authorities continue to mistreat gay people," he says.

 Players protest

 Criticism from international politicians as well as protests from human rights groups have also come to the fore.

 Denmark will wear a 'toned down' kit for the tournament, with the country's name and brand logos barely visible. Denmark's team captain, along with the team captains of nine other countries, including England, Germany, France and Belgium, will wear one-lo armbands for gay rights with the rainbow logo on their arms. Is.

 Despite the teams' request, FIFA has not clarified whether their use would be a breach of World Cup rules. Players are prohibited from making political statements during the tournament.

 Dr Gregory Lonides, an academic and international sports lawyer, believes that football's governing body has a difficult time trying to decide where to draw the line in all this.

 "Norwegian players recently wrote a text on their shirts asking: 'Is this a political statement?'

I don't know, can you explain to me what a political statement is? I don't think anyone can do that, and that is the problem that FIFA is facing at the moment.

 Paul Amann believes that gay rights are a "fundamental social issue, it's not about politics" and that athletes should not be punished for speaking out about them.

 But that can only happen once the tournament starts and supporters (and players) know how the rules are enforced.

 Rights of workers

 Support for laborers in Qatar is another issue that some campaigners will be only too happy to discuss on behalf of the athletes.

 "I think it's very wrong for FIFA to say: 'Oh, this is political, you're going to be banned,'" says Mustafa Qadri, founder of Ecodam, a consultancy firm working on labor rights and human rights in Qatar. .'

 He has spoken to workers in Qatar, including those who helped build the stadium for the World Cup, and found that the workers were charged fees to get the jobs. , they had problems getting wages and were forced to work in dangerously high temperatures.

According to some reports, more than 6,000 migrant workers have died since Qatar won the World Cup bid in 2010.

 However, the Qatari government says the reported total number of deaths was misleading, and that there were 37 deaths among workers on World Cup stadium construction sites, only three of which were 'work-related'.

 Qatari officials say the end of the country's 'Kafala' labor sponsorship system, which forced foreign workers to seek their employer's permission to change jobs or leave the country, is evidence that conditions have improved.

 But Mustafa says that while some of the reforms are certainly benefiting some workers, clearly not enough has changed.

 Controversial winner of World Cup hosting bid

 Criticism of gay and labor rights has led many to question FIFA's decision to allow Qatar to host the tournament.

 The entire process has been dogged by allegations of widespread corruption, and two investigations were launched in 2015 by Swiss prosecutors and the US Department of Justice. Qatar has always denied any wrongdoing, and in 2017 FIFA declared the bid transparent as part of its investigation.

Supporters of the decision have suggested that sport is an effective way to help countries open up and bring about change, but Mustafa believes it has 'brought too much light to current human rights issues and so much of this opportunity. Not used. As much as could be done.

 One of the reasons FIFA awarded Qatar the tournament is to try to promote change, says Dr. Gregory Lonidis.

 Through this, they want to create an environment of 'inclusion' in the country's society. And if you open up that country to the world, you can get that country to take a different view on individual liberties and so on.'

 But the ongoing debate and criticism of gay and labor rights has led many to think that FIFA has made the wrong decision.

Russia's elimination from the tournament

One area where FIFA has garnered much praise internationally is its decision to exclude Russia from the tournament during the qualification stages.

 While it is not unusual for countries to be suspended for ground rules violations or administrative infractions, it is much more unusual for a team to be banned from a tournament for anything other than a football-related offence. go

 Only Germany and Japan since World War II, and South Africa during the apartheid era, have faced similar restrictions. "FIFA is trying to keep political statements out of the game, but FIFA itself is a political organization," Dr Lonides said, commenting on its decision. And inevitably FIFA will have to make political decisions.

 The decision to pull Russia out of the tournament was ultimately made after the other countries in its play-off stage, Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden, refused to play against the Russian team in protest against the invasion of Ukraine.

 Dr. Lowndes further says that if FIFA had failed to do so, there might have been a risk of revolution from other participating countries.

 Reforms

 Despite all the global backlash, Qatar's emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has responded to criticism of his country's hosting of the World Cup, saying: 'The Middle East has been discriminated against for decades now, and I know that. Such discrimination, it turns out, is mostly based on people not knowing us, and in some cases, refusing to know us.'

 He also claimed that when mega sporting events were hosted by other countries on different continents, people "did not attack us as quickly as we have been attacked, and that they Qatar is proud of the 'progressive reforms and progress it has made.' will continue to hit the headlines for other reasons than that.