World Cup 2022: Elisabeth Borne has "not planned to go to Qatar"

Elisabeth Borne said on Thursday that she had "not planned to go to Qatar" for the FIFA World Cup, while the host country is criticized because of the situation of immigrant workers and the environmental cost of the competition.

"I think that our team will go to Qatar, and no doubt the Minister of Sports will have to go and support them", however indicated the Prime Minister, questioned on the subject by Konbini News.

"Then we can actually note that the construction conditions of the stadiums can raise questions," she added.

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Prime Minister @Elisabeth_Borne came to answer all your questions about ecology pic.twitter.com/nFVcLXO00q

— Konbini news (@konbininews) October 6, 2022

At Le Parisien, the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had declared in mid-September that she would consider a trip to Qatar, "if the French team goes through a certain number of stages in this competition".

"I consider that it is the role of a Minister of Sports, with regard to an event of such magnitude, to be at the side of the players to communicate recognition and encouragement to them", she had Explain.

The deputies La France insoumise recently denounced the organization of this "filthy cup" in this Gulf state (November 19-December 18), denouncing "the mistreatment of immigrant workers" and the "air-conditioned matches in the open air", demanding a “strong political response from the French authorities”.

“Ecological scandal” and non-respect of human rights

The debate had also agitated the hemicycle of the Assembly last August, during the ratification of a partnership between France and Qatar on the security of the competition.

France will send around 220 experts on site - GIGN, anti-drone control, mine clearance or search for explosives - to contribute to the security of the event, as part of an agreement signed in Doha on March 5, 2021. left-wing and RN deputies then denounced the “ecological scandal” of this competition and the non-respect of human rights.

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In France, many cities – Paris, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Strasbourg… – have announced that they are boycotting the competition, whose matches they will not broadcast on the big screen.

Among the reasons for this boycott are the treatment of immigrant workers, the number of deaths on the construction sites of the eight World Cup stadiums and the environmental cost of the event, most of the stadiums being equipped with an air conditioning system.

In French football, Qatar controls Paris SG, via the sovereign fund Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).