A fire-breathing spider made from fifty tonnes of steel. Seven glitzy new stadiums. Ice rinks just miles from beach clubs; theme parks adjacent to circuses; light shows which promise a "glance into the future".

At its heart, the FIFAThe Federation Internationale de Football Association is the world's highest governing body of association football. World Cup is a carnival, where the football can seem less important than the festivities. This season, Qatar promises to run the most expensive tournament of all time, with expenses of over $220bn ($187bn). The sum amounts to 20 times what Russia spent hosting the World Cup in 2018.

If this figure does not make your jaw drop, £187bn is more than the respective GDPs of 144 countries in the world. Qatar's own GDP is just $180bn (£153bn).

This extravagance contrasts with Qatar's conservative culture. Alcohol is mostly illegal. Adultery can lead to 100 lashes. Homosexuality is punishable by death. Many argue it is far from inclusive to host the event in a place where the rights of LGBTQ+ people and women are so restricted.

Most shockingly, the Guardian wrote last year that over 6,500 migrant workers have died constructing the tournament's infrastructure. Many of them were supposedly subjected to human rights violations.¹

And the tournament will pump an estimated 10 million tonnes of toxic carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a colourless gas formed during the combustion of any material containing carbon and is a significant greenhouse gas.  into the atmosphere.²

Ten European team captains plan to wear "One Love" armbands to show opposition to Qatar's anti-homosexuality policies. England Defender Lotte Wubben-Moy has stated that she will not be watching the men's World Cup due to moral objections.

A growing movement is calling for us to switch off our televisions during football season to signal that we do not support human rights violations.

Others call boycotts ineffective and hypocritical. For those queasy about the use of unethical labour in the tournament, for example, we might ask if they would similarly "boycott" the White House, VaticanWhere the Pope lives in Italy., the Palace of Versailles or the Pyramids, since they were all built by slave labour.

Politicising football is nothing new. It has been used to support the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA, and to fight child poverty in the UK. But some argue that we are often selective about which causes we support and which we stay quiet about.

Yes: Boycotting the World Cup will not bring back those who died building the stadiums and other infrastructure, but it could prevent it from happening again by significantly denting viewing figures.

No: There is no chance that a boycott would ever seriously affect viewing figures, since it is one of the most popular global events. Figures show that more than half of the world tunes in. The only person you are affecting negatively by refusing to watch is yourself.

Or... Morality is far from black and white. Many people use the World Cup to connect with the people around them: family, friends, acquaintances. It provides a sense of national and international community and brings people a lot of joy.

Fifa - The Federation Internationale de Football Association is the world's highest governing body of association football.

Carbon dioxide - Carbon dioxide is a colourless gas formed during the combustion of any material containing carbon and is a significant greenhouse gas. 

Vatican - Where the Pope lives in Italy.