Wales’ fans at their match against the US.
Getty/Athena Pictures
The 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, hosted by Qatar, began Sunday.
Qatar has a track record of human-rights violations, including anti-LGBTQ and anti-women laws.
Corporate leaders advertising or sponsoring the World Cup should do more to promote change.
It’s called the beautiful game. But this time, soccer isn’t looking quite as good.
As millions tune in to watch ther team in the World Cup, it’s not clear how many fans are ready to face the contradictions between what we tell ourselves about the power of sports to unite and the reality of rapacious business interests that often work against the greater good.
The 2022 World Cup is being played — controversially — in Qatar and happening against a backdrop that includes the deaths of perhaps thousands of migrant workers who built the tournament’s eight stadiums and other facilities, allegations of bribery, and a host country that often subjugates women and has outlawed homosexuality.
The 32 nations vying for the coveted title are focused on winning. And so are the big brands dropping massive sums of money to flash their logos during the monthlong tournament. The teams, the brands, and many of the rest of us are doing as we’re told because it aligns with our interests.
Playing along is what Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president wants. Ahead of Sunday’s opening match, he focused his press conference on what he deemed “hypocrisy” of Western criticism. “Who is actually caring about the workers? FIFA does. Football does, the World Cup does and to be fair to them, Qatar does as well,” he said. “Everyone who comes to Qatar is welcome, whatever religion, race, sexual orientation, belief she or he has, everyone is welcome. This was our requirement and the Qatari state sticks to that requirement.”
But by Monday morning that didn’t seem to be the case. England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands said they wouldn’t wear the OneLove anti-discrimination armband in their World Cup opening games after confirmation that their captains would be given yellow cards if they did.
In addition, sources told ESPN that FIFA has ordered the Belgium team remove the word “love” from the collar of their away shirt.
Sports have long played an important role in diplomacy, but this year’s World Cup is not one of those peacemaking, world-changing moments, and it’s ridiculous for leaders to pretend it is. Viewers and athletes are being asked to “compromise” on LGBTQ rights, forget about the migrant-worker deaths, and not engage in any protest.
The toxic positivity of it all is oppressive.
While it’s one thing to ask viewers watch, smile, and cheer, it’s another to assume they’re stupid and unaware of what’s going on in the world. Instead of pretending there isn’t an elephant on the field, corporate leaders should be using this as a teaching moment. But, too often, the bottom line gets the last word.
Despite the setting where the rights of women, LGBTQ people, and protesters come in second, top brands ranging from Adidas and Visa to Coca-Cola have stepped forward to sponsor the event. Other brands, like Budweiser, purchased multimillion-dollar partnership deals. The King of Beers will acquiesce to rules set by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and other government leaders because the company expects to turn a massive profit.
The 2022 World Cup is being played against a backdrop that includes the deaths of migrant workers, reports of bribery, and a host country that subjugates women and has outlawed homosexuality.
Christian Hartmann/Reuters
Soccer fans see what’s going on. An informal poll of 40 of my friends, while certainly not scientifically sound, provided a glimpse of people’s views: 27 said they were angry that Qatar was hosting the World Cup, and 10 said they didn’t know about Qatar’s human-rights issues. Only three said they knew but didn’t care.
People will still tune in, searching for a brief respite from a worrying economy, an ever-present threat of layoffs, a lingering pandemic, and a climate crisis. After all, I’ll be watching, too.
I’m not alone. Global viewership is predicted to reach 5 billion — an average of 227.27 million viewers a day.
Money, not social justice, is the priority. That’s nothing new, of course, because the financial stakes are sizable. Telemundo’s 2022 FIFA World Cup ad sales for its Spanish televising of the tournament hit “record revenue,” a spokesperson said. FIFA itself is projected to exceed its revenue target of $6.4 billion for its 2019-2022 cycle, per Bloomberg.
Budweiser had said it expected to sell 62 million pints during the tournament, a potential 13.5% boost in sales. That was before FIFA announced days before the start of play that no alcohol would be sold at the stadiums hosting the matches.
Adidas, Visa, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser did not immediately reply to Insider’s request for comment.
Notable figures like the musician Dua Lipa and the former “Spice Girls” member Mel C have dissented, but even their voices are faint amid all the cheering. The Australian footballer Josh Cavallo, who is openly gay and playing in the World Cup, has spoken out against Qatar hosting the event and in support of LGBTQ rights. In a more subtle act of protest, the US Men’s Soccer team changed its logo to feature the rainbow flag.
“Qatar’s World Cup is a bigger and more disgusting joke than World Cups usually are, and I for one will not be watching,” a Twitter user named Bry tweeted.
One contributor at a college newspaper in Iowa called on others to boycott the tournament, writing: “A boycott would make it clear to nations that they can’t make money off the backs of abused workers and show companies that they can’t make money by sponsoring such events.”
For some, there’s nothing to be upset about. Khalid Salman, the Qatar World Cup ambassador and a former footballer, said homosexuality is “damage in the mind” in an interview with the German broadcaster ZDF earlier this month.
So while corporate leaders and some celebrities stay mostly quiet, the prospect of further harm to LGBTQ people, among others, grows in Qatar, according to the nonprofit Human Rights Watch.
The 2022 World Cup is a cynical attempt at sportswashing. Viewer boycotts might not be the answer, but neither is silence.