The report ‘Qatar 2022: Where is the World Cup fever?’ (November 18) compelled me to put into words the dilemma that I am fighting when it comes to watching this World Cup.
Without doubt, one of the biggest reasons for the apathy in this very muted build-up is the struggle many football fans are having with their conscience: can we, should we watch the World Cup?
To answer the question: yes, I will be watching. And this is not a cry for justification, for vindication of my reasons, or a call to convince others so as to assuage my feeling of guilt.
This is the voice of a football fan who has grappled with the way multiple World Cups happen in a surreal happy world of celebration seemingly unaffected by momentous and tragic world events; from 1982 and 1986, held so soon after the terrible Falklands War and the tragedy of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico, to the controversial awarding in 2010 of the 2018 and 2022 editions to Russia and Qatar and the shameful treatment of the poorest communities in Brazil, all for the promised riches, for the few, of the 2014 World Cup.
And, still, I watched. Every four years for 40 years I have looked forward to the World Cup. I blame it all on Marco Tardelli and the team of Brazilian magicians at the 1982 World Cup. The bulging eyes, the clenched fists, the swaying stagger of Tardelli’s iconic goal celebration in the final and the earlier wonder of Brazil putting the beauty into the beautiful game were moments of childhood awe that shaped my life’s memories to be categorised into four-year packages.
But this time it is different, the enthusiasm ruined by FIFA’s questionable choice of host country. We have come so far from the controversy of it not even being in the summer. Europeans being upset about a disruption to their domestic leagues is noise that should barely make a sound among the din of opposition to Qatar 2022.
Where is the World Cup fever? Not in the sports pages but on the front pages. And none of it makes very good reading. And, amid all the anger, the “focus on the football” plea from FIFA, the rebukes from the likes of Amnesty International to that message, up popped Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president who oversaw the vote for Qatar, to admit it was a big mistake.
I will watch because I never stop believing in good and the power of sport to bring people together to heal, to take a stand and to make a point. It is perhaps brutally ironic that the place where footballers and fans will come together to heal is the same place that has caused so much hurt.
The World Cup did not create the pitiful state of workers in Qatar. It exposed it. According to Amnesty International, there are 1.7 million migrant workers in Qatar, or 90 per cent of the country’s workforce. Many more came to work on the World Cup projects but, in 2020, it also brought about the end of the “kafala” system where workers were tied to their employer who sponsored their migration to the country. The changes meant that workers can now switch jobs with written notice.
When we cheer for our favourite team, think about the rights of gay people in Qatar- Aidan Mifsud
Is this the end of it? No. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), in a report published recently, welcomed the changes but notes that implementation is still very sporadic.
Max Tunon, head of the ILO in Qatar: “We have seen real progress and change during this period but, at the same time, we recognise there is still a lot of work to be done.”
England’s Harry Kane, and the captains of nine other European countries, had intended wearing rainbow-coloured captain’s armbands in support of LGBTQ+ rights. But should the players be the ones put in a position where they have to make statements that FIFA may pay attention to?
England midfielder Jordan Henderson said: “A lot gets put on players on ‘should the World Cup be played there?’ and everything that goes with that but the players don’t decide where the World Cup is played.
“FIFA decides that and that is a question for them to answer. For us as players we just play football and try to have a voice in certain ways to help as much as we can.”
There is a lot that is not right. Since 1982, I have been along for the corruption and controversy-laden train ride that FIFA pilots around the world. I haven’t ignored it. Football has very often been my educator, has helped me shape my values, has helped me make decisions of what is wrong and right. This time FIFA really pushed my limits.
Bill Shankly, the storied Liverpool manager, famously said (to paraphrase) that football is more important than life and death. But, at this moment in history, is football more important than all the issues that awarding the World Cup to Qatar has raised?
And, as we watch, let’s not forget about the Ukrainian people living under the constant threat of Russian missiles, the Iranian women gasping for life and freedom, the Palestinians still waiting for a homeland to call their own, the indigenous Brazilian communities fighting the threat of their own extinction and of their land and the indigenous people in Canada still waiting for the long-promised right to clean drinking water.
When we cheer for our favourite team and argue over refereeing decisions, think about the rights of gay people in Qatar who risk prison for being open about their love for another human.
Many years after Brazil’s shattering defeat to Italy in the epic 1982 World Cup match, the legendary Brazilian midfielder, Socrates, said “football as we know it died on that day”.
Let’s hope the post-mortem after Qatar 2022 is about the right life that football can inspire. Football can and must do better than this.
Aidan Mifsud is a sports science graduate of Loughborough University (UK) with a Masters in Sports Administration from AISTS, Lausanne.