Edge of Sports: The World Cup of Shame

Qatar's event is a human rights disaster—and a spectacle of sportswashing in an age of capitalist decay.

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The Qatar World Cup, which kicked off November 20, is a human rights disaster, despite all of the propaganda and disinformation proclaiming otherwise.

From the bribes that allegedly secured a successful host bid for the petro-dictatorship to the thousands of migrant workers who died in the unforgivingly hot sun while working to build the facilities in conditions compared to slavery, to the country’s brutal oppression of LGBTQ+ people and women, awarding the Cup to Qatar has left a stain on soccer that FIFA President Gianni “Johnny Boy” Infantino will never cleanse. In Infantino’s world, however, the tournament—the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East—will be the “best ever.”

This is a shameful spectacle of sportswashing in an age of capitalist decay. Yet having the entire sad affair shoved down our throats isn’t enough for Qatar’s ruling family. Taking a page from the rightwing grievance playbook of the Republican Party in the United States—in which one takes a truthful accusation of misconduct and flips it into a false claim of bullying—the ruling family has been complaining that they are being unfairly targeted.

In a speech in late October, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said, “Since we won the honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced.” He questioned the “real reasons and motives behind this campaign.”

These “real motives,” of course, exist only in the mind of the emir. While it is certainly true that xenophobia and anti-Islamic bigotry are problems in the world of soccer, resistance to this particular World Cup did not originate with fascists or members of the so-called cancel culture. It is coming from human rights activists and labor organizations that are shining a light on Qatar’s myriad abuses.

Taking a page from the rightwing grievance playbook of the Republican Party in the United States, Qatar's ruling family has been complaining that they are being unfairly targeted.

Human Rights Watch issued an alarming report about attacks against LGBTQ+ people in Qatar, warning that without vigilance, LGBTQ+ guests of the country are at risk. “While Qatar prepares to host the World Cup, security forces are detaining and abusing LGBTQ+ people simply for who they are, apparently confident that the security force abuses will go unreported and unchecked,” said Rasha Younes, an LGBTQ+ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Qatari authorities need to end impunity for violence against LGBTQ+ people. The world is watching.”

While that’s true, the world needs to do more than simply watch. In 2021, an investigation by The Guardian revealed that more than 6,500 migrant workers, mostly from South Asia, have died in Qatar since the country was awarded the Cup in 2010. Many have perished working specifically on World Cup construction projects. Many died from malnutrition and heat stroke.

Human Rights Watch, in a separate report, looked more closely at the horrific labor abuses inflicted upon migrant workers, many of whom were never paid for their work. When Infantino was asked about FIFA’s responsibility to say something about this issue, his response sounded like a Horatio Alger story: “When you give work to somebody, even in hard conditions, you give him dignity and pride. It’s not charity.”

Then, when activist Peter Tatchell, who was a leading member of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970s Britain, traveled to Qatar to protest, he was detained for simply holding a sign that read, “Qatar arrests and subjects LGBTs to conversion,” while wearing a T-shirt with the hashtag: #QatarAntiGay.

“I did this protest to shine a light on Qatar’s human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ people, women, migrant workers, and liberal Qataris. I am supporting their brave battle against tyranny,” he said.

If there is any silver lining to this repugnant spectacle, it is that the ruling family’s attempts to keep its country’s abuses in the dark have prompted even more people to denounce this sad affair and relay the truth to the rest of the world.