World Cup in Qatar - The sideshow or the main event?

bdw · 27-10-2022, 10:53 AM

Australia is the first team to take a united, public stand against the host nation of the world cup, Qatar, ahead of Aus-France opening match on November 23. This morning the Australian national team released a collective statement condemning Qatar human rights, in particular the treatment of migrant workers and the LGBTIQ+ community. All 16 players featuring in the statement below.

This is in stark contrast to superstars like David Beckham, who has accepted a $277million deal with Qatar to promote the middle eastern nation.

https://twitter.com/thepfa/status/15...Ai2zSJWuokH6sg

Cornmeal · 27-10-2022, 11:27 AM

That's not a protest at all, not playing would be, this is just virtue signalling.

bdw · 27-10-2022, 12:06 PM

Fair point and I dont deny the virtue signalling. But at the same time at least they are raising awareness. 6500 migrant worker deaths in Qatar since 2010, a fair number linked to awarding the biggest sporting event on the planet to a desert country lacking facilities.

The next highest number of deaths in the leadup to a sporting event was Sochi Winter Olympics with 60 people killed, Athens 2004 with 40 deaths, Beijing 2010 had 10 deaths, Brazil 2014 had 7, Sydney 2000 had 1, London 2012 had zero. So Qatar is completely off the scale.

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TheBrit · 27-10-2022, 12:09 PM

Virtue signaling is such a loaded, negative term.

I don't understand why anyone feels the need to criticize a person, team or group who is doing anything positive to publicize or bring pressure on barbaric regimes like Qatar.

Cornmeal · 27-10-2022, 01:53 PM

Anyone with a heartbeat and a passing interest in FIFA should have been aware of this issue years ago when the controversial selection process was completed.

So they're raising awareness to what end? Don't watch the cup? Anyone thinking professional athletes are putting pressure on Qatar with messages on social media that will lead to any meaningful changes are laughably naïve. Also anyone looking to pro athletes to provide a moral compass or learn about global social issues are willfully and woefully ignorant.

The time for protest was when the selection process was tendered, the top ranked teams should have all threatened to pull out, that would've accomplished something. FIFA and the Olympics are corrupt organizations that time and time again function to legitimize authoritarian regimes by allowing them to host these events under the fraudulent auspicious of having a positive influence on the host nations.

https://youtu.be/qr6ar3xJL_Q?t=430

TheBrit · 27-10-2022, 01:58 PM

Coulda woulda shoulda.

I don't disagree at all with anything in your last paragraph, but failure to do the right thing in the past doesn't mean that nothing is worthwhile now, or that participants should simply abandon all protest or publically now.

It would have been better to never award the competition to Qatar, but it doesn't mean it's wrong to try to embarrass them or expose their nasty regime.

jgl · 27-10-2022, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Cornmeal:

Anyone with a heartbeat and a passing interest in FIFA should have been aware of this issue years ago when the controversial selection process was completed.

So they're raising awareness to what end? Don't watch the cup? Anyone thinking professional athletes are putting pressure on Qatar with messages on social media that will lead to any meaningful changes are laughably naïve. Also anyone looking to pro athletes to provide a moral compass or learn about global social issues are willfully and woefully ignorant.

The time for protest was when the selection process was tendered, the top ranked teams should have all threatened to pull out, that would've accomplished something. FIFA and the Olympics are corrupt organizations that time and time again function to legitimize authoritarian regimes by allowing them to host these events under the fraudulent auspicious of having a positive influence on the host nations.

I imagine there was plenty of protest from many sources when this was awarded. But it was awarded anyway.

It all kicks off again in a month. Is there something wrong with publicising it again?

Cornmeal · 27-10-2022, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by jgl:

I imagine there was plenty of protest from many sources when this was awarded. But it was awarded anyway.

It all kicks off again in a month. Is there something wrong with publicising it again?

No, but if teams/nations really wanted to make a legitimate statement of protest they could all agree to take a moment of silence during the first minute on the clock of each game. Both teams standing motionless after the whistle blows and the clock ticks would really embarrass the regime, social media posts not really.

Pauljoecoe · 27-10-2022, 02:15 PM

This happened a day or two ago....

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-63389409

jgl · 27-10-2022, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Cornmeal:

No, but if teams/nations really wanted to make a legitimate statement of protest they could all agree to take a moment of silence during the first minute on the clock of each game. Both teams standing motionless after the whistle blows and the clock ticks would really embarrass the regime, social media posts not really.

This is a curiously "it must be done 100% to Cornmeal's rather arbitrary standards or it doesn't count" kind of attitude to be taking.

Sure, may be the Australian team isn't instantly putting their livelihoods at stake, or torpedoing funding for the future of their sport in their own country or the international stage, but they've probably guaranteed that they will be very unpopular during the event. It seems to me better than silence, and it's a start (probably a restart).