No Fun & Games at Qatar World Cup
By Liem Dam, Vanier College student and committee member.
The FIFA World Cup is a quadrennial event that unites the various nations of the Earth in a bid to pit the world’s best competitive soccer players against one another, in a colourful spectacle of cheer and celebration. Yet there is nothing to celebrate about the abysmal working conditions plaguing the host of the future 2022 World Cup, Qatar.
Much like the Olympics, the World Cup host is decided by an internal vote by FIFA’s executive members years before it actually takes place, to allow the winner to prepare for the games. In 2010, Qatar was announced as the winner of the 2022 bids – beating out the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the UK, among other countries. The decision to award Qatar with the privilege of hosting the World Cup was a strange one: an independent commission hired by FIFA itself assessed all the candidates for viability and risk - Qatar was the only one labelled "high risk". The tournament takes place during the summer months, and Qatar’s desert climate makes it extremely unsuitable for a sport of such intensity. Furthermore, much of the infrastructure needed for an event of such magnitude – stadiums, public transit, airports, housing and accommodations – are simply not present in Qatar. There have been widespread allegations of corruption (which is not particularly new to FIFA). Indeed, the president of FIFA himself, Joseph Blatter, has even admitted that awarding Qatar the contract was “a mistake”.
Accusations of vote-rigging notwithstanding, it is within FIFA’s right to select a less developed country to host their games. Such a decision can even be extremely beneficial to the local economy, providing billions in investments into infrastructure and generating tourism revenue that will last long after the World Cup has run its course. However, these countries also often lack the social development and laws needed to prevent abuses stemming from the execution of such an ambitious project. In some cases, the institutions in place to prevent injustices and corruption lack the experience, scope and budget required to properly do their jobs; in others, they are simply absent. It thus becomes essential to have appropriate checks and balances in place to ensure that systematic exploitation does not occur. This has not been the case with Qatar.
Qatar is a small country, but relatively rich due to its large amounts of oil resources. Like many middle-eastern countries, it has begun, in recent years, a large degree of urban expansion in order to support its increasingly affluent population. The large amount of construction work it needs requires it to rely on foreign labour to meet demand. Foreign workers account for nearly 90% of Qatar’s 2.2 million people and that proportion is only growing because of the astronomical scope of the World Cup project.
Qatar uses a kafala (sponsorship) worker system which allows foreign workers to come into the country provided they are sponsored by an employer. Although the system is intended to be beneficial for both parties, the workers – many of Nepalese and Filipino origin – are regularly exploited. Their patrons confiscate their passports, making them unable to leave the country until completing their contract – essentially reducing them to indentured servitude. The working conditions are horrendous, with manyworking 12 hours a day in scorching temperatures that can reach up to 50°C. Many have no access to basic facilities like toilets and drinking water. The result is a death toll that has climbed to 1,000 in 2 years, and with work only ramping up in order to be able to complete all the construction work on time, it’s estimated that the World Cup will kill over 4,000 workers. The Qatari government has acknowledged the abuse and has promised to take steps to stop and prevent it, but as Amnesty International notes, there has yet to be any substantial change.
What can be done? We can pressure our government to persuade Qatar to improve its migrant worker conditions. The best option, however, might be to raise awareness and convince others of joining the cause. The situation behind an event scheduled 7 years from now simply isn’t a priority to the general population or to the media. In our capitalist society, we have the option of voting with our wallets. We can choose to boycott FIFA products, including the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Although FIFA is a private, non-profit organization, it has significant political clout and its influence can have a huge impact on improving the situation. If enough people pressure FIFA, then we might see a first step to change.
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