FIFA and the organization of the 2022 World Cup, which will be played in Qatar starting Sunday, are “shaking off responsibilities,” Amnesty International Portugal told Lusa, in relation to human rights abuses in that country.
“Both FIFA and the organization of the 2022 World Cup are shaking off responsibilities. We even saw the president of FIFA say that the organization does not get involved in politics. In other words, human rights are not politics, they are fundamental rights”, explains the executive director of Amnesty in Portugal, Pedro A. Neto, to Lusa.
Given the human rights violations in the preparation and construction of infrastructures and stadiums in Qatar, documented and denounced for years by this and other organizations, Amnesty recalls the request for compensation, by the highest world football body and the State of Qatar, workers and their families, due to accidents and deaths in these jobs.
Pedro A. Neto also recalls “all the processes of little transparency and little corruption with which the World Cups are chosen”, but he understands that the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) does not rule, “because it is a candidate” to organize the Cup of World. World Cup 2030, with Spain and Ukraine.
“He is not going to want to stand up to FIFA. The Portuguese sovereign bodies that take their positions and communicate the values that we defend, which are respect for human rights. In Qatar, they were not respected before the World Cup, in the preparation they were very offended, and everything makes one believe that there will be problems during the World Cups, and also after, ”he recalls.
In addition to migrant workers, the alert also applies to the rights of women and LGBTQIA+ communities, in a country where homosexuality is a crime and was recently denounced by a tournament ambassador as “a mental disorder.”
“It is a pity that an event of this magnitude, with such media coverage, did not have a prior obligation to respect human rights. And soccer has the media power to demand this type of improvement in the world and it has not done so. The values, in football, have been different”, criticizes the official.
In the opinion of Pedro A. Neto, “a boycott of watching the games at home will no longer have an effect”, as civil society, asking instead that this unethical business that is illegitimately enriching the FIFA”.
“Unfortunately, FIFA even sent an email to all the teams to abdicate from taking positions on human rights, or wearing the rainbow bracelet, for the persecution of LGBTQIA+ people. What appeal is, perhaps, to civil disobedience? of athletes and coaches, not to use prohibited things, but rather when talking to the press”, warning about the issue, he adds.
Pedro A. Neto recalled the harsh criticism of international midfielder Bruno Fernandes, a member of the Portuguese team that will travel to Qatar on Friday to play the tournament.
“That they represent Portugal not only in the quality of the game, as I hope as a fan of this beautiful sport, but also in terms of our values, and that is what is also expected of sovereign bodies”, he explains.
Amnesty International Portugal, recalls the executive director, also opposed the tournament held in Russia in 2018, “and today more people will understand why.”
“FIFA cannot continue laundering the governments of countries that systematically abuse human rights with these great events that deserve to be parties on clean floors. And the ground in Qatar is full of blood, ”she shoots.
Although the Qatari authorities deny it, several organizations point to thousands of deaths in that country between 2010 and 2019 in work related to the World Cup, with a report by the British newspaper The Guardian, from February this year, citing the figure at 6,500. deaths, a figure that many consider conservative.
In addition to the unexplained deaths, the ‘kafala’ labor system and forced labor, in extreme heat and with long working hours, among other attacks, have been remembered and exposed for years by non-governmental organizations and independent reports.
Several national teams, such as Denmark, Australia or the United States, have actively positioned themselves against abuses or in favor of the inclusion and protection of both migrants and the LGBTQI+ community, both residents in the country and those seeking to travel to watch the game. games.
The 2022 World Cup will be played between Sunday and December 18, with the Portuguese team classified and inserted in Group H, with Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea.
Source: TSF
