Trivialization or “sick”?
Qatar is extremely dividing the football camps
4/1/2022, 4:46 p.m
Some – such as FIFA President Infantino – are looking forward to the “best World Cup of all time”. Ex-Oranje coach de Boer calls the excitement about the many dead workers “nonsense”. But then there are the others who find the award to Qatar “ridiculous” and “sick”.
Nobody can now predict what will happen in Qatar from November 21st. Football will be played at the World Cup, yes. It is clear that there are many reasons for criticism, and since the award at the end of 2010 no one has skimped on it. A lack of human rights, modern slavery, thousands of dead workers, for example. The discussion about the tournament is therefore already almost at the boiling point. The camps continue to split.
“It’s sick to award the World Cup to Qatar,” said ex-professional and coach Ewald Lienen to the editorial network Germany. He asked that not only sport, but also politics and business, be held accountable, but his position is clear. “Millions and millions are invested in stadiums that later go to waste. The proceeds go to FIFA and international corporations. Big events should go to countries to support them.”
Louis van Gaal shares this opinion, FIFA is not about the development of football – that’s “bullshit,” he said last week. Rather, money is the driving force. “I think it’s ridiculous that we’re going to play in a country in order – as FIFA says – to develop football there by hosting a tournament there,” said the coach of the Dutch national team, criticizing the award and cashing in on World Cup’s anger -Organization chief Hassan al-Thawadi: “For someone who has been a coach for so many years and understands the power of football, it is ridiculous to make such a meaningless statement.”
“Really complete nonsense”
He may have liked the statements made by van Gaal’s predecessor, Ronald de Boer, much more. This caused a stir with statements about foreign workers who had died in the World Cup host country Qatar. “It’s one word against the other. Everything is lumped together. From the teacher to the cleaner to the construction worker. That’s the stuff these numbers are made of,” said the 51-year-old, who died in June 2021 was chosen by the organizing committee as a World Cup ambassador during a broadcast by the Dutch broadcaster RTL. According to the Guardian, more than 6,500 workers from Southeast Asia have died on construction sites in Qatar in the past decade.
“It’s really complete nonsense. They threw all the people from these ten years into one pot. That doesn’t do people justice,” said the Dutchman. “People are dying. It doesn’t matter how sad. But they make you feel like people are being killed by the heat of the stadium.” The government of Qatar pointed out that the death rate was within the expected range given that there were more than 1.4 million people from the region in the country.
The government also repeatedly refers to numerous reforms – especially in the area of employee rights. Violations of the new laws would be rigorously pursued, according to the emirate. However, human rights organizations keep emphasizing that, in reality, not much has changed despite the laws. According to Amnesty International, “exploitative practices” and the “worst elements” of the kafala system exist.