Draw in Qatar: The World Cup that has to be political

Created: 03/30/2022, 12:24 p.m

The groups for the 2022 World Cup will be drawn in Doha.

© Christian Charisius/dpa

In less than eight months, the soccer World Cup will kick off in Qatar.

The host has been criticized for years, but the situation is confused.

Doha – Where Robert Habeck stood, bathers are sunbathing again.

And near the driveway of the luxury hotel in Qatar's glittering capital, Doha, the violet flags of the soccer World Cup are waving.

The Federal Minister of Economics was a guest in mid-March to negotiate new energy contracts in the shadow of the war in Ukraine.

Suddenly, shortly before the group draw this Friday, the federal government is also playing a more visible role in the muddled discussion about the 2022 World Cup, whose hosts, according to international organizations, do not pay much attention to human rights and the lives of foreign workers.

“Human rights continue to be violated”

Wenzel Michalski is the Germany head of Human Rights Watch.

In Qatar "human rights are still being disregarded," he emphasizes in an interview with the German Press Agency.

Amnesty International also gives a desolate testimony in the current annual report.

In 2021, despite state reforms, migrant workers “continued to be affected by exploitation”.

The institutions fear regression instead of progress, contrary to assurances from Qatar.

"Of course it's not paradise.

Of course it's not perfect.

Of course there is still a lot to do, but we have to keep at it.

(...) We have to encourage change," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino shortly before the world governing body's congress this Thursday and the draw on Friday.

"The legacy in terms of human and labor rights is and was already achieved before the World Cup."

The Swiss took up residence in Qatar last year.

A video in which Infantino wants to raise the spirits at the event for the volunteers with crude “Qatar, Qatar” calls caused amusement on social media at the beginning of the week.

Habeck: "Catastrophic conditions"

Habeck had traveled to Qatar to find ways out of dependence on Russian gas.

His ministry circulated a Twitter video with the quite thoughtful Green politician in the sun of Doha and near the beach, Habeck spoke of earlier “catastrophic conditions” in Qatar, which had changed due to “pressure from Germany too”.

At least in part.

Michalski followed this critically: "He literally said what the narrative of the Qatar government is: Not everything is great here, but we are trying."

The government of the emirate is "smart enough to say, we do everything, we do our best," says the human rights activist.

"They return criticism with self-criticism, which is disarming, that's a clever trick."

On paper, the region's kafala system, which binds workers to their employers and virtually deprives them of all rights, has been abolished.

Years ago, Franz Beckenbauer said he had "not seen a single slave" in Qatar.

That was even more inaccurate then than it is today.

The government has responded to the disturbing reports of thousands of deaths on construction sites with an expected death toll of more than 1.4 million people in the region.

Federal government wants to remain true to principles

Habeck has "made it clear what kind of consideration processes these are," says SPD leader Lars Klingbeil of the German Press Agency.

The federal government continues to represent its principles.

“We have values ​​and we articulate these values ​​out loud.

We have expectations that human rights will be respected, that there are occupational safety measures, and that wages and treatment of employees will be fair," said Klingbeil.

The principle should not apply, “we want to talk to you about gas deliveries, but we are silent about the rest.

That’s absolutely not possible.”

The country on the Persian Gulf, which was insignificant in football at the time, was awarded the World Cup in a scandalous double award, with the 2018 world tournament going to Russia.

A number of members of the then FIFA Executive Committee have since been convicted of corruption.

Qatar denies to this day that it used unfair means.

Infantino, who was still a UEFA envoy at the time, is now considered a close friend of the emirate, and he learned Arabic.

mutual dependence

A few months before the tournament, the mutual dependency is obvious.

Contrary to calls for a boycott, the tournament will take place in Qatar.

FIFA has to do well, as do a number of other partners.

"With its diplomatic soft power, Qatar is becoming a world player," says Michalski about the interdependencies in sport, politics and business.

The World Cup hosts survived the diplomatic crisis when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt allied against Qatar at the beginning of 2021. Now he may be moving closer to Germany.

more on the subject

Neubauer: Formula 1 is inconsistent when it comes to human rights

World Cup quarters: Wellness resort on the north tip as a DFB favorite

What is criticized about Qatar and the Emirates

A grandstand visit by German politicians at the World Cup "perhaps wouldn't be that problematic," says Michalski.

"But you can't just stand next to the Emir and wave funny at the camera.

They should publicly demand human rights and present what they have said to the press.” Human Rights Watch has so far not called for a political boycott – as was the case recently with the Winter Olympics in China.

Another one for that.

"We make a clear recommendation to FIFA and the DFB: They are obliged, according to the guidelines of the United Nations, to pay reparations to the families who lost their husbands on the construction sites," says Michalski.

The narrative that the World Cup construction sites should be clearly separated from others with presumably worse working conditions is incomprehensible.

At which street, which subway station, which hotel should the line be drawn?

The new DFB President Bernd Neuendorf announced that during his first visit to Qatar he would “make initial political contacts and hold talks.

But that is certainly not exhausted in this one visit,” said Neuendorf at the beginning of the week.

The trip to the emirate was scheduled for Wednesday.

The world association is presenting some of the state-of-the-art stadiums to the congress guests this week in the best weather.

The final in front of probably almost 90,000 people will be kicked off in the Lusail Arena.

Infantino and FIFA repeatedly refer to the football enthusiasm in the country, which expects millions of fans from all over the world.

It's supposed to be a festival in the street canyons of the capital Doha, which are supposedly only designed for car traffic.

dpa