Why so much controversy on this Football World Cup 2022?
More than 10 years after getting to organize the 22nd edition of the Football World Cup 2022 by Qatar, more and more voices rise to the approach of the event on multiple drifts and the reasons for such a scandal. Between the ecological disaster, the construction of stadiums with the denial of human rights and suspicions of corruption, we take stock.
A controversial organization
Most certainly one of the biggest scandals that Sport has experienced in its history. Between suspicions of bribes, conspirations and blackmails, the Qatari file still managed to pass.
Let's go back to 2010, where the President of Fifa Seb Blatter and Michel Platini assured that Qatar had the worst case file and a high-risk organization. And yet, despite the other 4 candidates for the World Cup 2022, the vote of the 24 members was well considered in favour of the Qatari. The vote being secret, impossible to know who the voting is for the Gulf country.
In the next two years, many financial transactions to Fifa members took place, as well as contracts on gust planes and the sale of the PSG. Despite this, the evidence is rare...
Investigations are not open in three countries: France, Switzerland and the United States.
Following this scandal, now the vote for the organization of the Football World Cup is divided by universal suffrage between the 209 member federations.
Human rightsbreached
At the approach of the opening ceremony, many articles reveal the extreme working conditions that the workers knew at the stadium sites. Despite the unworthy and dangerous conditions, the stadiums were still built. Between heat, accidents, forced labour, human exploitation is completely proven.
FIFA remained powerless in the face of this phenomenon due to its irresponsibility in this case.
We can talk about Sport Washing, which weakens the legitimacy of sports organizations.
Single-use stadiums
Between the construction of stadiums and their operation with air conditioning due to extreme heat in the country, the carbon footprint is strongly impacted. We are talking about thousands of tons of CO2. The stadiums are mostly open-air with air conditioning that will work at full speed.
The 974 Stadium will be fully demountable and finally built for the occasion and it will emit twice as much greenhouse gas. So we can talk about a single-use stage.
Never has a Football World Cup been so challenged in human and ecological terms. Next? Winter games planned in 2029 in Saudi Arabia are starting to make us all think for the survival of our Planet.