The criticisms against the organization of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are linked and for some this badly masks a certain racism on the part of Western countries against the first Arab country to organize the Football World Cup.
The World Cup begins on Sunday with the poster between the host country, Qatar, and Ecuador, and it is an understatement to say that on the side of Doha we hope that we will now make more room for sport, and least to the incessant controversies over the attribution of the 2022 World Cup to the gas state by FIFA. If Qatar was expecting criticism, the host country did not think it would have to face such a torrent of criticism on the societal and human aspect of this most popular event on the planet. And for some, all these attacks still look like a common front of Western countries against the first Arab country to organize the World Cup. ” While acknowledging that many criticisms are justified, people wonder what happened to Russia, where the 2018 World Cup was played, without a media storm of this magnitude. The same goes for the organization of the Winter Olympics in China in 2022. For the man in the street in the Arab world, Qatar seems to be the subject of special treatment in Western public opinion. And he wonders if it wouldn’t be precisely because Qatar is an Arab country. “, points out, in L’Equipe, Elyes Jouini, former Tunisian minister and holder of the UNESCO chair at Paris-Dauphine.
Norway said nothing and won medals in China
And this eminent specialist is not the only one to think that it is easier to hit Qatar than other countries, Nabil Ennasri, co-author of The Empire of Qatar, and doctor of political science, giving a very specific example, since it is the Norway team, which is not qualified for the World Cup but has been leading the anti-Qatar campaign for months. ” At the beginning of the year, this country was silent on the violation of human rights in China, going so far as to participate in the Beijing Winter Games where it won numerous medals. Suddenly, at the end of 2022, Norway wakes up on human rights in Qatar for a competition where it is not qualified. This selective indignation goes badly, it is experienced as a way of denigrating the obtaining of competition by the Arabs “, ironically Nabil Ennasri in the sports daily.
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And in the press of the Arab countries, if we recognize that there were reproaches to make in Qatar, in particular on the working conditions, it is also estimated that everything was multiplied because of the choice of the host country. For her part, Fatma Samoura, Secretary General of FIFA is flabbergasted by this flood of criticism which does not cease as the World Cup begins on Sunday in Doha. “ The world will have another idea than that of the Western media on a small country that is Qatar: Arab hospitality will be there. When people leave, they will still have stars in their eyes for several months (…) The way in which we dissect Qatar, as the emir said, I believe this is the first time that this has happened pass like this. The level of criticism has reached an unimaginable point (…) There are criticisms that are justified. Workers’ conditions before September 2010 were not acceptable. That’s the reality “Admits the head of FIFA, who believes, however, that this World Cup will allow to make spectacular progress.