Should Scotland Boycott the World Cup in Qatar?

[G_&_T]

Now that Scotland almost appear to have secured a play-off place, I think it's time to debate what happens if we qualify for our first World Cup in twenty-four years.

The SFA and many Scottish fans claim to be committed to equality and this would be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that this isn't simply mere rhetoric or meaningless virtue signalling.

There was talk about boycotting Russia at the last World Cup, but Qatar's human rights abuses are on a whole different level altogether.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/qatar/report-qatar/

https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/qatar/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar

 

Besides restrictions on freedom of expression, LGBT rights, etc, is the issue of Modern Slavery:

 

Quote

In 2013, Amnesty International published reports showing that unpaid migrant workers were left to go hungry. According to the report, workers are being "treated like cattle."^[39] According to a report by the Guardian (and based on documents obtained at the Nepalese embassy in Qatar), dozens of Nepalese migrant labourers had died in Qatar within the span of a few weeks around September 2013, and thousands more were enduring appalling labour abuses.^[40] According to their analysis, current construction practices will have resulted in over 4,000 deaths by the time of the 2022 event.^[40] This figure is denied by the Qatari authorities, who argue that it is misleading since it includes all causes of death in a population of close to one million and over an eight-year period.^[41] As of December 2013, FIFA has investigated but taken no action to force Qatar to improve worker conditions.^[39]

British law firm DLA Piper was instructed in 2012 by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, President of Qatar Foundation, to undertake a review of migrant worker conditions. Following the recommendations made, Qatar Foundation created the Migrant Workers Welfare Charter which applies minimum requirements with respect to the recruitment, living and working conditions, as well as the general treatment of workers engaged in construction and other projects. The mandatory standards will be incorporated into agreements between Qatar Foundation and all its contractors, who are required to comply with the requirements and rules. Contractors and sub-contractors found to be violating the regulations have been blacklisted from future tenders.^[42]

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar#FIFA_World_Cup_preparations_and_reported_abuses

 Personally, I'd love nothing more than for Scotland to qualify and then refuse to play in the finals because of the wicked practices mentioned above. It's absolutely outrageous this has gone on, and it's the only way to make FIFA more discerning when choosing World Cup venues.

 

We're better than that! 

[pozbaird]

We should absolutely boycott it. As a show of solidarity, I’m chucking supporting Newcastle United. I’m also refusing to ever visit my family in Australia again, due to concerns over their treatment of indigenous peoples. (The country that is, not my family. They’re a strange bunch, but they treat indigenous people just fine)….. Won’t bother going to the NFL in London this weekend, cannot support the way they’ll hang Gruden, but let Washington’s owners off the hook. Definitely not going into Glasgow ever again. Fcuking streets named after those who made a few bob from the slave trade. Next time St Mirren release a kit, boycotting that. Sweatshop labour no doubt…..

Adidas trainers can fcuk right off too…. Feckin’ Hitler youth. Basturts.

Edited October 13, 2021 by pozbaird

[G_&_T]

1 minute ago, pozbaird said:

We should absolutely boycott it. As a show of solidarity, I’m chucking supporting Newcastle United. I’m also refusing to ever visit my family in Australia again, due to concerns over their treatment of indigenous peoples. Won’t bother going to the NFL in London this weekend, cannot support the way they’ll hang Gruden, but let Washington’s owners off the hook. Definitely not going into Glasgow ever again. Fcuking streets named after those who made a few bob from the slave trade. Next time St Mirren release a kit, boycotting that. Sweatshop labour no doubt…..

Adidas trainers can fcuk right off too…. Feckin’ Hitler youth. Basturts.

 

Comparing historical examples, like the street names of Glasgow, with exploitation that's happening now is facetious. If everyone was to boycott the World Cup in Qatar this kind of shit would end.

People are happy to go on Twitter and express their outrage because someone's said only women have a cervix, or because a millionaire footballer's been booed, but when it comes to buying second hand clothes rather than cheap stuff manufactured in Third World sweatshops utilising child labour...i.e. when it comes to actual personal SACRIFICE people can't be bothered and would rather just pretend it's not happening. 

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, G_&_T said:

Now that Scotland almost appear to have secured a play-off place, I think it's time to debate what happens if we qualify for our first World Cup in twenty-four years.

The SFA and many Scottish fans claim to be committed to equality and this would be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that this isn't simply mere rhetoric or meaningless virtue signalling.

There was talk about boycotting Russia at the last World Cup, but Qatar's human rights abuses are on a whole different level altogether.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/qatar/report-qatar/

https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/qatar/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar

 

Besides restrictions on freedom of expression, LGBT rights, etc, is the issue of Modern Slavery:

 

 Personally, I'd love nothing more than for Scotland to qualify and then refuse to play in the finals because of the wicked practices mentioned above. It's absolutely outrageous this has gone on, and it's the only way to make FIFA more discerning when choosing World Cup venues.

 

We're better than that! 

Completely agree, some things are more important than football.

Others might/should follow suit and force fifa to move the tournament, or at least it would make it a meaningless tournament in a football sense. But very meaningful in a political sense.

[Donathan]

No. 

[AJF]

It’s a difficult question, but The Scottish Football Association is exactly that, a Football Association.

Matters such as Qatar’s human rights issues are much larger than football and were around long before stadiums were getting built for the World Cup so I don’t think it’s something the SFA should get involved in to the extent of boycotting.

[Clown Job]

I would absolutely support it, but we all know it would never happen 

The SFA would never give up the cash they would earn by competing in it 

Edit: FIFA/UEFA are also extremely corrupt, the tournament should never have been awarded to Qatar to begin with but we all know why they got it

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by Clown Job

[G_&_T]

2 minutes ago, AJF said:

It’s a difficult question, but The Scottish Football Association is exactly that, a Football Association.

Matters such as Qatar’s human rights issues are much larger than football and were around long before stadiums were getting built for the World Cup so I don’t think it’s something the SFA should get involved in to the extent of boycotting.

 

I'm not sure whether you read what I (admittedly) cut and pasted from Wikipedia, but it is estimated that 4,000 people will have died building these stadiums. To put that into perspective, the 9/11 death toll was apparently 2,977! Yet that led to the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The economic benefits of the whole endeavour won't even be realised until next year, meaning that those who've finance and organised this can be made to pay the price. What it means is individual sacrifices - especially on behalf of the players, but also the fans.

This isn't something tangentially related to football...this is literally about the deaths of those who built the stadiums hosting the games. If this tournament was not held in Qatar, those 4,000 people might still be alive!

[AJF]

2 minutes ago, G_&_T said:

 

I'm not sure whether you read what I (admittedly) cut and pasted from Wikipedia, but it is estimated that 4,000 people will have died building these stadiums. To put that into perspective, the 9/11 death toll was apparently 2,977! Yet that led to the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The economic benefits of the whole endeavour won't even be realised until next year, meaning that those who've finance and organised this can be made to pay the price. What it means is individual sacrifices - especially on behalf of the players, but also the fans.

This isn't something tangentially related to football...this is literally about the deaths of those who built the stadiums hosting the games. If this tournament was not held in Qatar, those 4,000 people might still be alive!

Yeah, I wasn’t disputing that if it wasn’t for those stadiums being built then those 4,000 people might still be alive, but I meant that the issues they face is to do with the poor conditions regarding construction rather than football itself.

The same human rights issues would exist if they were building skyscrapers or bridges as opposed to football stadiums which is why I think it is a battle we should be wary of.

[lubo_blaha]

Only if we don’t qualify.

[RossBFaeDundee]

Pretty simple stuff, imo. If we qualify for the first World Cup in my lifetime, no. If we don't, yes.

[G_&_T]

33 minutes ago, AJF said:

Yeah, I wasn’t disputing that if it wasn’t for those stadiums being built then those 4,000 people might still be alive, but I meant that the issues they face is to do with the poor conditions regarding construction rather than football itself.

The same human rights issues would exist if they were building skyscrapers or bridges as opposed to football stadiums which is why I think it is a battle we should be wary of.

Boycotts work because they put pressure on a party (firm, country, organisation, etc) to change their practices. This boycott would influence any country who ever intends on bidding to host a major sporting event. It's one of the rare chances the world has to condemn these practices. 

 

[Clown Job]

7 minutes ago, G_&_T said:

Boycotts work because they put pressure on a party (firm, country, organisation, etc) to change their practices. This boycott would influence any country who ever intends on bidding to host a major sporting event. It's one of the rare chances the world has to condemn these practices. 

 

See apartheid South Africa as an example of it working 

Sporting boycott of South Africa

Edited October 13, 2021 by Clown Job

[Billy Jean King]

4000 workers killed constructing 10 stadiums. That cannot be true, can it ???

[Scary Bear]

What is the point of doing all the hard work to qualify if we don’t want to go?

According to some reports Qatar only got the World Cup due to corruption in football. Should we boycott international football in general?

[Left Back]

Are you off your head?  Boycott a tournament we’re going to win?

[No_Problemo]

Let’s imagine that we do boycott. 
 

Scotland do it, no one else will boycott or give a f**k, and Scotland are heavily sanctioned by a corrupt FIFA. It would achieve nothing. The major countries would have had to state they were boycotting it when it was first announced for anything to happen. 

[Scary Bear]

2 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Let’s imagine that we do boycott. 
 

Scotland do it, no one else will boycott or give a f**k, and Scotland are heavily sanctioned by a corrupt FIFA. It would achieve nothing. The major countries would have had to state they were boycotting it when it was first announced for anything to happen. 

Yep, the various football associations should have called it out when all the reports of corruption came to light.

[pozbaird]

1 hour ago, G_&_T said:

 

Comparing historical examples, like the street names of Glasgow, with exploitation that's happening now is facetious. If everyone was to boycott the World Cup in Qatar this kind of shit would end.

I’m not comparing Qatar to slavery, or any other atrocity, such as the wages paid to young players by Jim McLean’s Dundee United. This kind of shit would end? My arse it would. All that would happen would be Qatar wouldn’t host a World Cup. My point is that football could boycott Qatar, but there’s shitloads of other things football could boycott. Newcastle United being one recent example. If football not going to Qatar ended shit there, Christ, send the football authorities into Afghanistan, Yemen, The West Bank. Get all sorts of shit ended.

[G_&_T]

5 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

Let’s imagine that we do boycott. 
 

Scotland do it, no one else will boycott or give a f**k, and Scotland are heavily sanctioned by a corrupt FIFA. It would achieve nothing. The major countries would have had to state they were boycotting it when it was first announced for anything to happen. 

It would draw international attention to what's gone on, and show the world that the Scots are a principled people who're willing to take a stand against it.