Calls to boycott the World Cup in Qatar multiply

With less than 100 days to go until the soccer World Cup, it grows in number of public figures who question the participation in the event and its informative coverage due to human rights violations by the host country. A survey published this Thursday indicates that the majority of fans ask for compensation from migrant workers exploited for the construction of the infrastructure to host the event.

“I’m not going to watch a single game in this World Cup. First of all, because Qatar is not a soccer country. There is no fervor, there is no flavor. It’s an ecological aberration, with all those air-conditioned stadiums… how crazy, how stupid.” denounced this week the former soccer star Eric Cantona.

“But above all it is a human horror. How many thousands of people have died to build these stadiums, just to entertain the public for two months… and nobody cares,” added the Manchester United legend and former French national team player. .

His words are added to those pronounced a week earlier by the German Philipp Lahm, former world champion. “I’m not part of the delegation and I don’t want to fly there as an amateur. I prefer to follow the tournament from home”, he said.

“This should not happen again in the future. Human rights, sustainability, the size of the country, none of that seems to have had an influence, ”she added, thus questioning the choice of Qatar to host the World Cup.

Since its designation in 2010 as the venue for the 2022 World Cup, Qatar has been the focus of human rights organizations, especially for the working conditions in the infrastructure for the tournament (stadiums, hotels, roads…) and by the situation of sexual minorities.

The country is accused of not having declared all the deaths that have occurred and of not having done anything to improve the situation of the workers. According to Amnesty International, some 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died since the contest was attributed to Qatar. Complaints from workers who have not received a salary after working in extreme conditions are also common.

In this context, a majority of fans of the soccer World Cup spoke out in favor of FIFA compensating migrant workers whose labor rights were violated during the works for the great tournament, according to a survey published this Thursday by Amnesty. International.

The survey, which involved 17,000 adults from 15 countries, most of them from Europe but also from the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Morocco or Kenya, showed that a large number of fans are in favor of compensating migrant workers.

73% of those surveyed said they “strongly support” or “tend to support” that FIFA use a part of your income to offer compensation to these people. 10% of the people questioned “tend to oppose” or “strongly oppose” any compensation, while 17% had no opinion on the subject.

Amnesty International Campaign denounces the abuses committed against workers in Qatar.

In a statement, FIFA said that it “takes note” of this survey and insists on “the measures put in place in recent years by (itself) and its sponsors in Qatar to protect workers.”

“The workers have been compensated in various ways when the companies did not respect the welfare standards” of the supreme organizing committee of the 2022 World Cup, says FIFA.

“We have understood that we had a problem with work on construction sites, and we have taken strong measures in record time. We have modified the law and punished anyone who mistreats an employee; we have opened our doors to NGOs and cooperate with them And we are proud of it,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said in the face of criticism.

In France, the press is beginning to show expressions of hostility to this World Cup. The newspaper Le Quotidien of the French island of Reunion announced on Monday night that it will not attend the World Cup in Qatar due to “the intolerable attacks on dignity, human freedoms, minorities and the planet” in the organization of the tournament. .

The headline on the front page of Tuesday’s edition of Le Quotidien de La Réunion, one of the two regional newspapers on the island, said: “Without us”. It is the first time in France that a media outlet announces that it is boycotting this major football event.

The popular sports journalist Frédéric Hermel, who works between France and Spain, says that he will cover the Spanish team exclusively and for professional reasons, but he prefers that the “Bleus” not take the cup and affirms that he will not watch the other matches.

“I don’t want the French team to win this World Cup, so that the image of the French team and of France is not associated with it,” he said.

Although the attribution to Qatar took place a decade ago, In the final stretch, the misunderstanding and disgust for this election begin to be more and more noisy. influencers and online petitions call for boycott are beginning to show their disagreement with this World Cup.