WM-Talk at Hart but Fair
“This old thinking is still there”
By Marko Schlichting
11/15/2022 3:42 am
The allegations against the host country of this year’s World Cup continue. Many fans have decided not to watch the games in Qatar. Former national player Thomas Hitzlsperger can understand that. He’s not looking forward to the World Cup, he says in “Hart but Fair”.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is confident. She was recently in Qatar, the host country of this year’s World Cup. There she found out about the human rights situation and spoke to the prime minister, who is also responsible for domestic policy. She found the talks “open”, says Faeser on ARD on “Hart aber Fair” on Monday evening. There the guests discussed the human rights situation in Qatar.
However, she does not know whether Faeser will fly to Qatar to watch one or the other game of the national team. It depends on your schedule, she says. And she wants the opportunity to address the human rights situation in the Gulf state again. “I want to continue the critical dialogue,” she says. “What we see in terms of progress there are little plants that need to be nurtured. And we mustn’t let go after the World Cup either.” According to Faeser, there are first improvements for the immigrant workers on paper, and the first trade unions have formed. These developments should be followed up. She is happy about a fund set up by FIFA to support the families of people who died during the construction of the World Cup stadiums.
“joy no longer exists”
Former national player Thomas Hitzlsperger was in Qatar for ARD. Unlike his colleague from ZDF, he traveled freely through the country. He did research for a documentary film, for which he also visited a family in Nepal. Many workers who helped build the World Cup stadiums come from there. There he spoke to a woman whose husband wanted to make big money on a World Cup construction site. She never saw him again. A coffin is all that came back to Nepal.
Today Hitzlsperger says: “The joy before a World Cup, which I felt as a child and also later as a player, is not there. Something changed in me. And I speak for many people.” But it is not up to the players to protest now, that is the task of the associations.
Steffen Simon agrees. As Media Rector of the DFB, he is responsible for its public relations work. Football has changed, he says. He has become more political. In fact, most of those responsible for awarding the World Cup to Qatar have been convicted of corruption or are facing court charges. “The type of award will not be able to be repeated in this way,” promises Simon. FIFA has taken up the cause of respecting human rights and the number of voters has increased almost tenfold. Nine European associations opposed the call by FIFA President Infantino, who now lives in Qatar, to keep political demonstrations out of the stadiums.
“Flimsy Security Guarantee”
Simon describes the statements made by Qatar’s World Cup ambassador, who said in a ZDF film that homosexuals were mentally ill, as “irritating”. Hitzlsperger, who is gay himself, is appalled. “The ambassador says people should respect culture. I think human rights are above culture. His statement shows that this old way of thinking is still there.” If you go to Qatar as a gay person, you get a four-week safety guarantee. “That’s flimsy: A security guarantee for the safest country in the world.”
Meanwhile, many people in Germany are wondering whether they want to watch the World Cup games or not. Steffen Simon takes it diplomatically: the DFB does not want to make any recommendations. Everyone has to decide for themselves, he says.
“Wear light colored clothes and smell nice”
All in all, the viewers were able to experience an interesting discussion, which then came to a surprising end. Because the last quarter of an hour of the show belongs entirely to Frank Plasberg: It’s his last. Plasberg is retiring. And that’s why he says goodbye extensively – from his team, from the studio audience, from the television viewers. And finally, even his successor Louis Klamroth appears, who will take over the helm of “Hart aber Fair” from January 9th.
“Today is a nice day for me,” says Plasberg to moderator Caren Miosga when handing over the daily topics. In the end, however, he almost cried when he repeated the advice that a professor friend of his gave him for old age: “Always wear light-colored clothes – and smell nice.”
“Stay clean,” he says – and leaves the talk show stage.