The 2022 FIFA World Cup is set to kick off later this month and has drawn controversy due to it being held and organized in Qatar, after it won the bid to host.
Qatar has historically held a bad reputation in terms of human rights. Things such as homosexuality being illegal–which can lead to multiple years in jail–show how Qatar has stayed away from modern movements of humanity.
On top of this, people have speculated that Qatar bribed FIFA to secure the rights of hosting the tournament.
Former president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter received plenty of backlash for his announcement in 2010 of Qatar hosting the world cup. The suspicion comes from the fact that Qatar has never had any history in the World Cup and is a less-than-ideal host country with its scorching temperatures.
Many of the 22 FIFA executive members that voted to determine the host country in 2010 have since been banned or accused of suspicion of corruption and wrongdoing.
Senior Carter Spangler, a member of the soccer team, is displeased with FIFA for allowing Qatar to host the World Cup. “FIFA is a very corrupt company,” Spangler commented. “Qatar has terrible laws in place for human rights.” Spangler sees no logic in Qatar hosting this World Cup and believes their securing their bid was a result of bribery towards FIFA.
David Beckham has received backlash for his involvement in Qatar. The former English soccer player is known as a “gay icon” and will ironically be an ambassador in Qatar. As the first Premier League soccer player to do a shoot for a gay magazine, he was expected to continue his support for the LGBTQ community. However, Beckham signed a deal reportedly worth $227 million to be the global ambassador for the World Cup.
Joe Lycett, an English comedian, identifies as queer and is upset with Beckham enough to the point where he will shred $11,772 if Beckham does not cut his ties as ambassador. Lycett is especially disappointed because Beckham has always thought of his platform through soccer as a “force for good.”
Widely considered the best league in all of soccer, the Premier League takes a blow from the timing of this World Cup. Because of the extreme temps in Qatar, the World Cup can not be held during the summer months, and instead, will take place during Nov. and Dec.
Senior Jeffery Rinker, also a member of the soccer team, is upset with this situation. “It affects premier clubs training schedules,” he mentioned. “This may cause a worse record come the end of the season.” Rinker also believes that “FIFA is corrupt and the possibility of being bribed is very possible.”
Major soccer social media account, ESPNFC made a post previewing what the scene in Qatar looks like captioned, “Qatar is coming together.” The comment section blew up with their criticism of the post with comments like “Coming together? Like in a graveyard?” as well as “The fakest World Cup ever. Doesn’t even feel like other ones.” One comment joked, “Nice propaganda ESPN, how much are you getting paid per post?”
There is no doubt that this is one of the most, if not the most, controversial World Cup in its 92 years. With suspicion of bribery, human rights issues and league interrupting play, many are upset with the host country being Qatar. Time will only tell the long lasting impact this location has for FIFA and World Cups to come.
