The Canadian men’s soccer team is participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Fans are both excited to listen to soccer’s finest competition, but are also perplexed by the non-sporting context. For a Westerner, a certain form of cognitive dissonance can manifest itself, i.e. a discrepancy is created between his personal values (gender and sex equality, human dignity) and those imposed by the country organizing the the World Cup (absence of women’s rights, prohibition of homosexuality and public signs of support for LGBTQ communities).
Discomfort or malaise can then appear in a soccer fan.
If the cognitive dissonance is too great, he may decide to boycott the event: “I won’t listen to the Mondial. »
Another will choose to watch the competition, while being aware that he is at odds with the host country: “I am aware of the human, social and environmental scandals, it is awful, but soccer is too important. »
Another fan might look at the event without a conflict of values: “The West does not have to impose its system of values on other countries”, or “The West does not have to give moral lessons to others, as LGBTQ communities are not safe at home.”
Regarding the clash of values between the West and another country, should we impose our Western values during a World Cup? If the answer is negative, how then to be respected, but while respecting the habits and customs of the host country? Is it compatible? Perhaps the social and religious context of the country, in this case Qatar, did not allow this “reasonable accommodation” with Westerners. Perhaps it would have been wiser to award the World Cup to a host country that is more respectful of human rights.
Let’s hope that this World Cup will be an opportunity for FIFA to look in the mirror and see what soccer has become in the name of sports washing. That is to say, in the name of profit, FIFA has sacrificed the moral integrity of sporting values based on fairness, equality and human dignity.