Controversies Behind the FIFA World Cup 2022

Controversies Behind the FIFA World Cup 2022

by Reynaldi Anduyau

As many as 32 teams from around the world are competing for the FIFA World Cup 2022 to fight for the title as the world's best team. But behind the euphoria, a number of controversies also accompanied the title of the biggest soccer party in the world. The 2022 World Cup performance which was held in Qatar contained several controversies that some football lovers could not fully accept. The following are a number of controversies that have accompanied the 2022 World Cup, summarized by the authors: 1. Boycotted by football club fans Many football club supporters, especially in Europe, have criticized and boycotted the 2022 World Cup. According to the Wall Street Journal, supporters of German Bundesliga teams were the most active in criticizing the holding of this World Cup. In fact they have started to criticize since the last few years. The fans took action by unfurling banners in the stadium during the match. Banners containing demands and criticisms of the organizers of the 2022 world cup which they consider to have killed many workers, have committed corruption and bribery, and have violated human rights. 2. FIFA corruption case The organization of the Qatar 2022 World Cup is full of corruption. FIFA executives won Qatar to be the host through voting taken by the ranks and partners in a closed manner. According to ABC News, 14 FIFA executives who voted Qatar as the host of the 2022 World Cup in 2010 were found guilty and charged with corruption. Moreover, Qatar itself is not a country that is famous for its football and has never qualified for the world cup. Even though at that time Australia was considered more suitable to host the World Cup. 3. Disruption to the European Leagues If we look at the positive side, the 2022 World Cup can be considered a new achievement because this is the first time the World Cup has been held in the Middle East. But this brings problem. The World Cup is usually held around June-July when the League Competition is over. According to ABC News, June-July is the peak of summer in the Middle East, including Qatar. The temperature there is said to be around 50 degrees Celsius which is certainly not ideal for sports competitions, both for the players and the spectators. Therefore, the solution is to shift the schedule to the end of the year, when the weather is cold in Qatar. This solution raises a problem, namely at the end of the year the Europan League Competition should be held. The world cup was shifted to the time of this League Competition and the competition stopped halfway. Finally, the Europan League Competition schedule fell apart because of this. 4. Workers’ rights issue Making a mega project certainly requires a lot of workers. Qatar needs a lot of workers at a time when their own population is small, about 2.8 million people. Therefore, Qatar uses the services of contract workers from abroad, especially from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. According to Amnesty International, there are a total of 1.7 million migrant workers working for the 2022 World Cup preparatory mega project. Unfortunately, what these workers get is not worth it. According to Amnesty International, the living quarters of these workers are inadequate. One example is that these workers live in a narrow room containing 8 people. Even though Qatar itself has a policy that says that the room for workers is filled with a maximum of 4 people and no more. Then there's the issue of salary. many workers admit that their salary is not in accordance with the initial agreement. In addition, their salaries are often delayed and what makes it even sadder is that these workers are bound by debt contracts with the agencies that sent them from their home countries to Qatar. Furthermore, workers also bear the risk of losing their lives while working. According to The Guardian, until 2021 there will be 6,500 migrant workers who have died in connection with the Qatar 2022 World Cup mega project. The causes of these deaths range from work accidents, workload, and take a hit stroke while working because the weather is very hot there. But here the Qatar's government disputes the findings of 6,500 workers who died. They said that only 37 workers died, and only 3 of them died as a result of work accidents. For this incident, the Qatar's government was required to pay compensation to migrant workers who were victims, either those who died or who became disabled. But they only paid compensation for the 3 people earlier according to their data. 5. Homophobia According to Human Rights Watch, Qatar strictly prohibits LGBTQ people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Transsexual, Queer or Questioning) from entering their country, because in Qatar this is a serious violation that can be punished by imprisonment or even the death penalty. So if there are LGBTQ people who force themselves to come there and they show their behavior as LGBTQ, they must be prepared for the consequences they will receive. 6. Controls on alcohol The problem became more complicated when Qatar experienced a dilemma regarding the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. One of the main sponsors of the 2022 World Cup is Budweiser which is an alcoholic beverage brand. Qatar itself prohibits both the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places. According to Sky News, Budweiser is required to move its store outside the stadium or somewhere more private so they can sell as long as it is not visible to the public. 7. A lack of accomodation The next issue is accommodation and lodging problem. According to the BBC, in March a few months before the event started, there were only 30,000 hotel rooms available to accommodate World Cup spectators. Even though it is estimated that at least one million people will come to Qatar to watch the World Cup. With a limited number of accommodations, in the end the organizers prepared various alternative accommodations, such as Villas, Village Complexes, Traditional Tents, and Rooms on Cruise Ships. This problem raises a new problem. Because there are only a few places to stay, the prices for lodging rentals soar and many complain because of this.