Monday, June 21, 2021
Not a suitable means
Norway against boycott of the Qatar World Cup 2022
The boycott deliberations of the Norwegian Football Association sparked a renewed debate about the football World Cup in Qatar in winter 2022. Now, at a special meeting of the association, a clear majority is against a boycott.
Norway will not boycott the World Cup in Qatar next year. That was decided by the assembly of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) at a special meeting. A clear majority of those entitled to vote voted for the recommendation of the board of directors to send the team around BVB star Erling Haaland to Qatar if they qualify despite human rights concerns. Association chief Terje Svendsen argued in advance that a boycott is not a suitable means of bringing about changes in Qatar.
The 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010. The emirate has come under international criticism for the exploitation of guest workers. According to research by the Guardian, more than 6,500 workers from five Asian countries have died in Qatar over the past ten years. The government there said it had improved the situation of workers significantly in recent years with reforms. In May, however, the organizing committee named the number of 37 guest workers who had died in connection with the construction of the World Cup stadiums. In the spring, several Norwegian top division clubs called for a boycott, and the Haaland team used T-shirt campaigns during the World Cup to draw attention to the human rights situation in Qatar.
Criticism also from Germany.
The boycotts of the Norwegians had also attracted a lot of attention in Germany. In May we had one representative survey of the WDR 65 percent of those surveyed were in favor of the national team not taking part in the tournament in winter 2022. National player Joshua Kimmich weighed up in March after a protest by the team for compliance with human rights. He said: “It’s about ten years too late for a boycott. The thoughts should have been given when the World Cup was awarded to Qatar. Now the World Cup is just around the corner, now it’s about us having the chance and ours Use charisma, point out things. As footballers, we have a responsibility. “
Toni Kroos described the award of the tournament to Qatar by the then FIFA Executive Committee around ex-President Joseph Blatter, Franz Beckenbauer and the self-confessed Qatar voter Michel Platini in 2010 as a fundamental mistake. The national player also noted that the boycott question was “actually discussed much too late” anyway. He called for protests “also during the tournament”.
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