As the World Cup comes to a close this Sunday, several controversies ranging from government corruption to international politics, have emerged. These issues begin with the host of this year’s tournament.

Qatar

 On Dec. 2, 2010, it was announced that FIFA had selected the 2022 World Cup to be hosted in Qatar’s capital city, Doha.

An estimated 3 million people living outside of Qatar purchased tickets to attend World Cup games. This ended up more than doubling the 3 million residents within the country. In order to support the influx of tourists, Qatar began preparing the infrastructure..

Despite Qatar’s accommodations for the World Cup, their hosting still sparked a number of concerns among the public.

Furthermore, human rights activists across the world were skeptical of Qatar hosting due to its history of unjust executions of women, members of the LQBTQ community, and felons convicted of minor crimes.

Moreover, Qatar has a history of abusing migrant workers, primarily South Asians, who make up an estimated 77 percent of the country’s population. It is known for creating unsafe working conditions, causing numerous injuries and deaths, with low pay.

Under these pressures, the Qatari government released official statistics stating that over 15,000 migrant workers had died due to work-related injuries or exhaustion between 2011 and 2020.

Many believe this number was higher than normal because of infrastructure projects in preparation for the World Cup.

World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi admitted that at least 400-500 migrant workers have died preparing infrastructure for the World Cup since the initial numbers were released, including this year.

Migrant workers have spoken up about these abuses. In particular, a Kenyan man named Boniface Barasa stated he and his colleagues were physically abused and verbally harassed on several occasions. He mentioned that one of his co-workers was beaten and called a “lazy black monkey” for not working all night.

Barasa added that many of his colleagues from Africa and South Asian countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal) died due to harsh weather conditions, exhaustion, and dehydration.

FIFA

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the organization for soccer games. It is responsible for organizing the World Cup, selecting the host, assisting in creating infrastructure, ensuring rules and regulations are enforced and promoting peaceful coexistence between countries.

Critics of FIFA are suspicious of the organization’s choice to have Qatar host the 2022 World Cup and have Russia host the 2018 World Cup as this allowed injuries, deaths, and controversies to occur.

Countries across the world want to host the World Cup because of the economic advantages. The 2018 Russia World Cup added $14 billion to the Russian economy with over 3.5 billion people watching the finals.

Reports also show that FIFA choosing to host the 2014 World Cup in Brazil created over 3.63 million jobs in the country, demonstrating the incentive for foul play in the selection process.

Investigations indicate that the Qatari government bribed high-ranking FIFA officials to select them as the host of the 2022 World Cup. This decision may have allowed the deaths and injuries involved in preparing for the World Cup in Doha.

Iran vs USA

Sporting events, like the World Cup, have a history of inciting political tension between the places opposing teams represent. 

The Iran vs USA game was no exception.

The Iran vs USA Group Stage game occurred on Nov. 29, 2022. Although many fans were shocked that the USA team won with a score of 1-0, many felt that the main attraction of the game may have been the Iran protests.

Iranians across the country have protested against the government’s strict enforcement of Sharia Law. However, due to many deaths similar to Mahsa Amini’s execution over improperly wearing her hijab, people from both the USA and Iran have joined the fight. 

In protest, the players on the Iranian team refused to sing the national anthem for many of their games.

Additionally, the USA team displayed an alternate version of the Iranian flag. Normally, the flag features an emblem symbolizing the country’s strict interpretation of Islam, however, this was removed from all social media posts from the USA team.

In response, the Iranian government demanded that FIFA disqualify the USA. They denied this request.

Morocco vs Belgium

The teams from Morocco and Belgium faced off in the Group Stage on Nov. 27, 2022. Morocco defeated Belgium with a score of 2-0.

Shortly after, Moroccan football fans began to celebrate their team’s victory. A small group of them began rioting in Brussels, Antwerp, and many other Belgian cities.

In particular, the rioters reportedly used pyrotechnics, sticks, and projectiles to set various streets on fire. The chaos even spread into neighboring countries such as the Netherlands.

In response, police resorted to deploying water cannons, tear gas, and other crowd control methods to resolve the issue, causing over a dozen people to be detained in Brussels alone. 

Although no one was killed, law enforcement agencies have still raised concerns over how a simple game of soccer can cause real-world violence, and even encouraged officers to be on high alert during the hours World Cup games are played.

The Final game between Argentina and France will begin on Sunday at 9:00 A.M.