Where will you be at 3pm come Sunday’s World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar?
Workers clean a display in Doha ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament: More than 6,500 migrant workers died in the construction of magnificent stadiums on which global football fans will be feasting their eyes.
We know that Qatar suppresses women’s rights, freedom of speech and right of assembly. And we have our suspicions about how Qatar, a single city state with a few hundred thousand citizens and sweltering summers, managed to land this prestigious event.But protests and boycotts are “12 years too late” according to eager fans. Whose fault is that?
The term sportswashing is only 10 years old but the profoundly political activity of diverting attention from human rights abuses by financially supporting big sporting events – whether it’s a World Cup or Saudi Arabia’s $100-million-dollar-a-man Liv golf series – has long been seen as a solid investment. Mussolini’s blackshirts used the winning Italian team to promote fascism at the Italy World Cup in 1934. Argentina’s murderous military junta tried it in 1978.
It’s the pandemic and the reckoning with racism and systemic injustice evoked by the Black Lives Matter campaign that empowered and emboldened the players – the indispensable, articulate stars turned activists, with their millions of global social media followers. Eight national team captains in Qatar including England’s Harry Kane will wear rainbow armbands.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
New regal edict at Qatar World Cup: Hide that beerOrganisers working in recent days to relocate Budweiser-branded stations after royal family concerns
Read more »
England head for the World Cup in Qatar on plane called ‘Rain Bow’The rainbow is the symbol of LGBT+ pride
Read more »
Qatar World Cup: the human cost of the tournament, in numbersFrom migrant deaths to minimum wage, the numbers that shame the 22nd edition of the World Cup
Read more »
Stephen Kenny backs Norwegian manager's 'legitimate criticism' of Qatar World CupNorway and Ireland meet in Dublin for a friendly international tomorrow night.
Read more »
World Cup: ‘Qatar was a mistake - the choice was bad’‘Qatar was a mistake - the choice was bad’: The extraordinary story of how a tiny desert state won the right to host World Cup 2022 (via IrishTimesSport)
Read more »