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The eyes of the world will be on Qatar between November and December 2022 for the Soccer World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East. An unthinkable world championship, which will take place 12 years after its adjudication amid multiple questions, ranging from accusations of corruption in the election of the headquarters to criticism for the poor working conditions and Human Rights in the Arab country.
On December 2, 2010, the world watched in amazement as FIFA delivered its main tournament to a Middle Eastern country and the Arab world for the first time: Qatar, a small Arabian peninsula state with no football tradition, beat the United States and he stayed with the 2022 World Cup.
An election that quickly triggered suspicions of political pressure and corruption and marked the prelude to the outbreak of ‘FIFAgate’, the mega cause promoted by the US Justice that resulted in the downfall of veteran soccer chiefs such as Joseph Blatter and Michel Platini.
But even with the changes in the leadership, FIFA supported Qatar through thick and thin, even agreeing to change the competition in an unprecedented way at the end of the year to avoid the extreme temperatures of the Qatari summer.
“I have never witnessed anything like this. One year before the start, all the stadiums are ready and state-of-the-art, they are beautiful. Preparations are ongoing. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, roads, hotels and more. But we we are preparing to welcome the world to Qatar, “said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Qatar has appealed to sport as a form of ‘soft power’ and has surrounded its nomination with recognized ambassadors, such as David Beckham, Cafu or Samuel Eto’o.
But international suspicion persists. The country is questioned for its poor record in Human Rights, the lack of respect for diversity and, above all, the shortcomings of its labor system, supported almost entirely by migrant workers in conditions close to slavery.
Although under global surveillance, Qatar has implemented improvements for workers and put an end to the ‘kafala’ sponsorship system, international organizations consider them insufficient and demand more transparency, especially in the investigations into the deaths of immigrant workers, several of them linked to the construction of infrastructures for the sporting event.
“While we acknowledge that there have been some important legal advances, enforcement (on the ground) remains very weak, leaving many migrant workers still at the mercy of unscrupulous employers,” said May Romanos, a spokesperson for Amnesty International. .
In this scenario, the World Cup promises to be played both on and off the field.
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