Let’s not repeat Qatar World Cup farce

The Qatar World Cup made the front pages all around the world — but largely for the wrong reasons. Kiran Lok Pengelly, 15, argues that FIFA must take responsibility for its mistakes — and act now to prevent another World Cup farce.

The 2022 Qatar World Cup was built on the bodies of the workers that made it possible. As the biggest sporting event in the world, with approximately 5 billion people engaging in the latest FIFAThe Federation Internationale de Football Association is the world’s highest governing body of association football. World Cup, the tournament is always bound to make headlines in one way or another. 

The most recent World Cup has been arguably the most noteworthy tournament in the competition’s history, but not for the right reasons. With Qatar’s human rights violation history and FIFA’s host nation choices coming under fire, the political issues behind the competition have greatly overshadowed its inspiring spirit. 

With the poor working conditions in the Middle East, the region has become a hotspot for human rights violations. Qatar is no different. When Qatar was first announced as the host country in 2010, the country’s minimal facilities meant that Qatar had up to 28 years of construction to complete in only 12 years. Due to this, labourers were forced to endure prolonged working hours in the scorching heat. Over the course of the preparations, 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar. Despite the Qatar government claiming that only three of the thousands of deaths amongst migrant workers were work related, the fact that the majority of deaths were caused by cardiovascular issues is simply too much of a coincidence. 

FIFA has a lot to do in order to prevent a repeat of the 2022 World Cup and manage the corruptionWhen someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery. issues that the organisation faces. Firstly, FIFA’s initial problem with the 2022 World Cup was the dubious background of the host nation Qatar. As the root cause of FIFA’s 2022 disaster, implementation of new criteria for potential host nations must be added, namely criteria based around legal and political stability. These will help ensure that a suitable host can be chosen for the World Cup to help prevent a country with unacceptable legal and political backgrounds from becoming the host nation for the competition. However, with the host nations of the upcoming World Cups having already been selected, this solution will not make immediate change. So to prevent any incidents in the upcoming competitions, FIFA must crackdown on corruption and ensure that laws and regulations are adhered to in future projects. 

FIFA’s reputation has been permanently sullied by the events of the 2022 World Cup, and rightly so, because the negligence of the abuse suffered by the migrant workers is unforgivable. I believe that in the future, more measures must be taken in order to prevent the spirit of the World Cup from being overshadowed by controversy. With the next World Cup in the US to take place in 2026, both FIFA and the US government will have to pay attention to these issues and treat them in the seriousness they require in order to prevent such travesties from repeating themselves.

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Keywords

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

Corruption – When someone abuses their power for personal gain. It often involves bribery.