Drawing the line (Qatar)

[hash tag]

Following a recent discussion at work; I said I would not be watching the world cup because of the numerous issues around it. A very leftie colleague said he would watch it but with serious reservations and
another colleague said why not, where do you draw the line?
Where is the line drawn?

 

[stavros]

I'll almost certainly watch it. I watched the Russia WC three years ago, and I watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 

[8ball]

I'll be watching but have decided to not enjoy it.

 

[Supine]

I'll be watching but have decided to not enjoy it.

Typical England supporter

 

[Riklet]

Im gonna watch it but theres no way I would go there.

Just boycotting it alone won't change much.

 

[klang]

I'll watch it but will badmouth it in front of everybody.

 

[spitfire]

Not sure. I watch F1 so already indirectly support various evil regimes. They have a race in Saudi this year which I’m not happy about.

I usually watch the world and euros. Ireland not having qualified makes it a bit easier but Mlle Fire being French means it will be on whether I like it or not.

I think klangs approach may be the way forward.

 

[Hollis]

A very leftie colleague said he would watch it but with serious reservations

 

[Hollis]

I'll be watching but have decided to not enjoy it.

I mean I guess we could send Tottenham there..

 

[SpookyFrank]

I've been watching the T20 cricket world cup in the UAE which is little better than Qatar.

Does watching bootleg streams make it OK?

 

[Supine]

I just hope the England band don’t turn up

 

[Wilf]

I'll not be watching it. Thousands of deaths of migrant workers, people dying on the actual sportswash project itself rather than in the country more generally. No thanks. In fact I really hope there isn't an urban forum on the next world cup.

 

[Raheem]

It's all pretty grim, but does it actually help anyone to not watch it?

(Not a rhetorical question.)

 

[stavros]

It's all pretty grim, but does it actually help anyone to not watch it?

(Not a rhetorical question.)

You'd like to think that FIFA have learnt at least some lessons from the uproar it's caused, and wouldn't do it again.

On the other hand countries don't have a binary classification as whether they're evil cunts or not. China has had the summer Olympics in the recent past, and the winter games next year, and Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup. Brazil has had both the summer games and the WC in the last decade, but are they to be avoided because they now have a nutcase in charge? I can't see any of those three realistically being excluded from the application processes.

 

[Wilf]

It's all pretty grim, but does it actually help anyone to not watch it?

(Not a rhetorical question.)

I've banged on about the number of deaths and the exploitation of migrant workers, so I'd be a hypocrite watching it tbh.

Inevitably you can get into 'but did you watch the WC when it was in x, y or z'. However this feels different in the number of lives thrown away directly in the process of building stadia and the infrastructure of the WC. It probably doesn't make much difference if isolated consumers refuse to sit through the cola/budweiser/KFC adds but again, all that consumerism feels even worse when it's put into the service of sportswash and unnecessary death.

Qatar should have never got the WC. Them having got it, the FA should have refused to put a team in. But none of those scumbags are going to clean up the game, quite the opposite. Given the state of the world/neoliberalism, nobody is going to do it, so it's all a bit depressing. So no, probably doesn't make much difference, but it would still feel a bit yucky watching it.

We'll have to wait for Gary Lineker and Gary Neville to lead the charge on twitter, lol.

 

[hash tag]

Unexplained migrant worker deaths may be close to 70%

‘Meaningless’ death certificates routinely say heart or respiratory failure

www.amnesty.org.uk

"Unexplained migrant worker deaths may be close to 70%, as temperatures topping 40°C take terrible toll

‘Meaningless’ death certificates routinely say heart or respiratory failure was cause of death

‘Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world - not only can it afford to do far better, it has an obligation to do so’ - Steve Cockburn

The Qatari authorities have failed to investigate the deaths of thousands of migrant workers over the past decade despite evidence of links between premature deaths and unsafe, searingly-hot working conditions, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

Amnesty’s 56-page report - In the Prime of their Lives - shows how the Qatari authorities routinely issues death certificates for migrant workers without conducting adequate investigations - instead attributing deaths to “natural causes” or vaguely-defined cardiac failures. "

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Christ, that's grim reading.

 

[hash tag]

Christ, that's grim reading.

Exactly. if that what it takes to hold a few games of football I can certainly live without it.
One of the richest countries in the world with appaling workers conditions

 

[Wilf]

I'm not going to criticise anyone who decides to watch it and once you get sat in your own front room all you are really doing is passively digesting the adverts that Qatar's 'commercial partners' will be churning out. Same time, there will be one hell of a bad smell there in the background.

 

[hash tag]

People should always make up their own minds with anything, it is for them to live with their conscience and beliefs. I am happy to criticise those who agreed to choose Qatar and for the bribery they took

 

[hash tag]

It has one of the worst human rights records in the world says Lewis Hamilton, who will still take the dirty money to race there

Lewis Hamilton praised after wearing rainbow helmet in Qatar GP practice

Lewis Hamilton has been praised for “an incredible act of allyship” after wearing a rainbow-coloured helmet at the Qatar Grand Prix

www.theguardian.com

 

[twistedAM]

Not sure. I watch F1 so already indirectly support various evil regimes. They have a race in Saudi this year which I’m not happy about.

I usually watch the world and euros. Ireland not having qualified makes it a bit easier but Mlle Fire being French means it will be on whether I like it or not.

I think klangs approach may be the way forward.

I watch cycling and Bahrain, Israel and UAE all sponsor teams plus the biggest race of the year is in France. I think I too will follow Klang.

 

[hash tag]

A pundit in Qatar speaks out Qatar’s BeIN Sports accused of stoking homophobia after pundit’s outburst

 

[krtek a houby]

Activist feared dead

Al-Maadeed tweeted in early October that her father had accessed the hotel and that her life was put at risk, after three alleged previous attempts to kill her by members of her family. On 12 October she tweeted “Sheikh Tamim is the only one who can prevent the danger to my life,” a reference to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

She tweeted “still not safe”, and later “a bit more OK”, the following day, followed by a thumbs up emoji. She has not spoken publicly since.

Al-Maadeed documented her flight from Qatar two years ago, which included stealing her father’s mobile phone to request an exit permit, as Qatari guardianship laws prevent unmarried women under the age of 25 from travelling alone outside the country without the permission of a male guardian.

Her exile followed years of alleged domestic abuse and efforts by her family to curtail her movements. She told Human Rights Watch that “[I was] only allowed to go to school and back. Anything else [and I] can expect a beating.”

‘If I’m not on social media, I’m dead’: Qatari feminist activist feared killed or detained

 

[hash tag]

It is only about the football. Apologise, no.
Qatar World Cup 2022: Criticism 'ill-informed', says tournament chief Hassan Al-Thawadi - Qatar chief says World Cup criticism ill-informed

 

[editor]

 

[bromley]

Will watch it on TV but won't buy any merch or go to any games etc.

 

[hash tag]

It's all about the money (interesting source)

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/qatar-world-cup-cantona-condemn-only-about-money

 

[planetgeli]

World Cup 2022: Denmark to wear 'toned down' jerseys in protest at hosts Qatar

Denmark will wear "toned down" jerseys for the World Cup to protest against Qatar's human rights record and treatment of migrant workers.

www.bbc.co.uk

Good on them.

Denmark will wear "toned down" shirts for the World Cup to protest against host Qatar's human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers.

Kit provider Hummel has also designed a third, all-black kit, to represent the "colour of mourning".
Hummel said it "does not wish to be visible" in a tournament it claims "has cost thousands of lives".

"We support the Danish national team but that isn't the same as supporting Qatar as a host nation," it said.

As part of the design, the Denmark badge is also "toned down". Their playing kit will be a plain red home shirt and an all-white second kit.

Denmark's training kit sponsors will also withdraw their logos to give room for messages critical of Qatar.

 

[hash tag]

I suppose a token gesture is better than nothing.