expert agrees
Germans don’t believe in the power of the World Cup
11/18/2022, 10:30 a.m
A few days before the start of the controversial soccer World Cup, a large proportion of Germans do not believe that the tournament will improve the human rights situation. An expert agrees – and warns that the situation of the LGBTIQ+ community in particular will even get worse.
The soccer World Cup starts in Qatar next weekend. According to a recent Forsa survey commissioned by RTL and ntv*, a total of 45 percent of those surveyed stated that they wanted to watch the games live during the World Cup. 28 percent of those surveyed only want to see games with German participation, and another 17 percent also want to see games without German participation.
Over half (54%) of all respondents do not intend to watch World Cup matches live. The proportion of those who want to watch games at all – whether with or without German participation – is therefore significantly lower than four years ago at the 2018 World Cup in Russia: At that time, three quarters (76%) of all respondents wanted at least part of the watch games. Even among those who are generally interested in football, more than one in four (28%) do not want to follow World Cup games.
Of those who do not plan to watch live World Cup matches, a similar proportion say they do not plan to do so because they are not interested in football in general (43%) or because the World Cup is being held in Qatar this year (45%). In relation to all German citizens, this means that almost every fourth German citizen (23%) does not want to watch the games because of the venue.
82 percent do not believe in improvements
The World Cup in Qatar has been criticized for the human rights situation there. In addition to allegations of corruption and the situation of foreign construction workers, there are also complaints about discrimination against homosexuals in Qatar. Nevertheless, almost half of those surveyed (47%) think it is okay that football fans from Germany are going to the World Cup despite the human rights violations in Qatar. A similar number (46%) think this is not okay.
Only a few respondents (16%) believe that the football World Cup in Qatar will help to improve the human rights situation in the country. A majority (82%) of citizens do not believe in it. The Islamic scholar Dr. Sebastian Sons, who researches at the CARPO Institute in Bonn, even fears that the situation for people from the LGBTIQ+ community in the country will deteriorate after the World Cup has been hosted in Qatar. “If the World Cup spotlight goes away, then the local government will no longer have to do justice to an international audience,” says Sons, explaining: “That’s why I’m afraid that people, especially from the LGBTIQ community, will have bigger problems because identity politics simply plays a very important role in the Gulf States.”
It is part of the country’s political identity to follow the government’s social guidelines, most of which reject homosexuality. Accordingly, the time after the World Cup could lead to “increasing repression, increasing marginalization, increasing social exclusion and these people getting into even more trouble and possibly having to leave the country,” according to the Islamic scholar. Despite assertions to the contrary, the country’s attitude towards the LGBTIQ+ community is not primarily cultural but political: “This LGBTIQ question is not a cultural question, it is not a religious one either, it is a political question. It’s about power And who has power and who also relinquishes power. And that’s very, very difficult in authoritarian regimes, because then you might open the floodgates to opposition groups very quickly, thereby undermining your own power.”
“Be very careful”
ntv shows the updated 25-minute report “Red card instead of rainbow – homosexuals in Qatar” on 18 November at 7.30 p.m. in full for the first time. At the same time it is available on RTL+.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch recently warned homosexual people against traveling to Qatar. There is “a great risk” that showing same-sex love “will be punished,” said Wenzel Michalski, director of Human Rights Watch Germany on Sky: “Regardless of what assurances there are. Qatar is not a constitutional state. You can’t sue for anything. ” Homosexuality is a punishable offense in the emirate. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Chalid bin Chalifa Al-Thani recently issued a “security guarantee” for people in the LGBT community to German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. He would still advise all homosexuals to be “very careful,” says Michalsky: “Not only in public and on the street, but also online. The Qatari government reads WhatsApp if they want to.”
Nobody should hope for the protection of the world association FIFA or local politicians. “There’s cowardice there,” said the director of Human Rights Watch. “As a football fan, you can’t count on being protected if you’re in danger there.” Possible measures by Qatar are “tough” and would range from blows to prison terms.
*The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of RTL Germany on November 15 and November 16, 2022. Database: 1,001 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points. More information about Forsa here. Forsa surveys commissioned by RTL Germany.