(Paris) Calls not to follow the next FIFA World Cup in Qatar (November 20-December 18), criticized on human rights or the environment, begin to appear two months before the start of the competition , without meeting a massive echo for the time being.
Posted at 9:41 a.m.
Some calls in the world of football
Éric Cantona, former footballer, actor
“To be honest, I don’t care about the next World Cup, which is not a real World Cup for me. […] Qatar is not a football country. I am not against the idea of hosting a World Cup in a country where there is a possibility of developing and promoting football, like in South Africa or the United States in the 1990s. […] But in Qatar, the truth is that there is no such potential. There is nothing. It’s all about the money in my opinion. It’s only about the money and the way they treated the people who build the stadiums is horrible. And thousands of people died. And yet we will celebrate this World Cup…” (DailyMailJanuary 2022)
Philipp Lahm, captain of the 2014 world champion Germany team and director of Euro-2024
“As a fan, I’m not very keen on going there. I prefer to follow the tournament from home. Human rights should play an important role in the awarding of tournaments. When a country gets the organization, when on this point it is particularly bad, one wonders on what criteria it was played. This shouldn’t happen in the future. Human rights, sustainability, the size of the country: none of this apparently played a role. » (Kickerearly August 2022)
Jakob Jensen, Chief Executive of the Danish Football Association
“We find it problematic that the World Cup is being held in Qatar, because there are a lot of problems: human rights, environmental problems… The competition will take place in December because of the temperature. It is in the interest of all countries in the world to improve the conditions of workers and to emphasize the conditions that you have seen in Qatar. » (SportsProJanuary 2022)
Lise Klaveness, President of the Norwegian Football Federation
“Second-rank fundamental rights are brought to the fore by outside voices; FIFA has addressed these issues, but there is still a long way to go. Injured migrant workers or the families of those who died in preparation for the World Cup must be taken into account. FIFA, all of us, must take all necessary steps to actually implement this change. With zero tolerance for corruption. (speech at the FIFA Congress in Qatar, March 2022)
Supporters of En Avant Guingamp, a football club playing in the French Ligue 2 championship, had unfurled a banner in a tribune “Boycott Qatar 2022”, during the visit of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, before the match against Toulouse, at the Roudourou stadium. (April 2022).
Culture and media are stepping up
Vincent Lindon, actor
“I will not watch the World Cup. I think it’s a — and I’m weighing my words — repugnant story. We are going to a country which, on paper, had zero chance of having the World Cup: neither the spectators, nor the infrastructure, nor the climate. In fact, I believe that today, we allow ourselves to be devoured by blood red money. » (France InterAugust 2022)
The Daily of Reunion
“This World Cup, more than any other sporting or cultural event before it, crystallizes intolerable attacks on human dignity and freedoms, it has trampled on the rights of workers and minorities and swept away respect for the environment. Probably never have we gone so far in the caricature of a rogue system. […] From today, there will be no more in these columns and on our website any article or advertisement evoking the sporting aspect of this Mondial-2022. (editorial on the site lequotidien.re, September 13)
ReleaseFrench newspaper
“It’s too late to boycott, but still time to get active”, writes the daily in its edition of Monday, September 19, with this shocking title: “World Cup in Qatar: the Cup is full”. “Advocating the boycott today seems very late. And unrealistic. In any case, Liberation will cover the event, by examining its sporting issues of course, but without concealing the diplomatic, economic, social, societal, environmental controversies… Without rose-coloured glasses or blinkers, therefore, ”argues the newspaper in an editorial.
Politicians take a stand
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, French Minister of Sports
“The solution is much more in resolute diplomatic action, and that is what our country is doing. Both in terms of human rights and in the ecological field, where Qatar is encouraged to do more on its ecological transition, particularly in view of COP 27. […] In terms of human rights, especially workers’ rights, we must continue to make progress. In recent semesters, within the framework of a demanding dialogue, there have been first advances. Establishment of a minimum wage, abolition of the “kafala” (sponsorship system making employees quasi-properties of their employer, abolished from 2016, Ed). They are far from sufficient and it will be necessary to ensure that commitments are kept. Diplomatic action, that’s what I believe in. » (The ParisianSeptember 15, 2022)
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the movement La France Insoumise (LFI)
“Yes, if there was a battle for the boycott, I would take part in it, but I don’t have many illusions. It’s a shame what’s going on there. (RTL, April 2021)
Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT
“(Boycott the World Cup) yes. But I believe that the debate is not so much a moralizing debate between one and the other on who is boycotting. I think it was in 2013, as the International Trade Union Confederation did, that we had to denounce the fact that Qatar had the World Cup. (France Inter, September 18, 2022)