The Vote: 11 agreed / 1 disagreed / 1 abstained

Qatar was unprepared to host the World Cup in 2010 and, after 12 years of work, they are still unprepared in 2022.

The country blatantly disrespected the location selection process.According to Business Review at Berkeley, an appalling $880 million was given to FIFA officials by Qatar as a bribe. No, that’s not a typo.

The Olympics association reported that, in order to prepare for World Cup, Qatar had to build seven stadiums, seating around 20,000 to 25,000 people. In order to complete these stadiums on time, Qatar cut corners.

The Guardian states that 6,500 migrant workers have died since the Qatar World Cup was announced. Many of those workers had acute heart or respiratory failure, which was thought to be a result of Qatar’s intense summer heat. Death tolls have also been linked to construction accidents and over exhaustion. Some of those who have survived reported that they’ve been injured, denied wages and subjected to forced labor.

Regardless of whether or not Qatar had the facilities to host the World Cup, FIFA should have removed them from consideration due the lack of civil liberties the country provides.

Qatari law blatantly undermines women’s rights, restricting their ability to travel freely.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported the following violations:

1. Single Qatari women under 25 must obtain their guardian’s permission to travel outside Qatar.

2. While married women at any age can travel abroad without permission, men can petition a court to prohibit their wives’ travel.

3. Women cannot marry without their male guardian’s permission, regardless of age, while men can marry up to four wives without needing even their current wife’s permission.

The country also has a dreadful track record regarding civil liberties and political freedom pertaining to LGBTQ+ rights.

Recently, suspect behavior has been displayed towards foreign reports. Grant Wahl walked into the stadium on Dec. 9 to cover the World Cup match between Netherlands and Argentina in Qatar.

He was a SM East alumni.

Wahl suddenly collapsed on the field and died just a few hours later.

On Dec. 10, Wahl’s cause of death was confirmed by medical officials as an undetected aortic aneurysm which ruptured.

On the day of Wahl’s death, the Gulf Times tweeted that one of their photojournalists, Khalid al-Misslam, also died suddenly while covering the World Cup.

Regardless of the state of Qatar socially, economically, etc. FIFA must consider human rights when it comes to choosing a host country. It feels too obvious to say, but bribery should not be tolerated in any capacity.

If FIFA continues to allow countries similar to Qatar to host these events, they are supporting human rights violations.

The bottom line is soccer, fütbol, or whatever someone chooses to call it, is a sport should create understanding between countries. It should not operate under capitalistic motives. It, like the Olympics, should be held to unite the world.