Qatar Hosting World Cup is Disgusting But Don't Expect Soccer Fans to Boycott Sport They Love

by Julian Spivey
As the second week of the 2022 FIFA World Cup gets underway I think I’ve lost count of all of the articles and statements I’ve seen online encouraging people not to watch the World Cup due to the host country Qatar’s horrible stance on human rights, especially gay rights and migrant worker rights, or in some cases because of FIFA’s corruptness. The whole reason the games are being played in Qatar is that former leaders of FIFA GOT PAID.

I get this sentiment. The World Cup being in a country where homosexuality is illegal and imprisonable is disgusting. The World Cup being held in a country where more than 6,500 migrant workers have died since the games were awarded to Qatar in 2010, according to a The Guardian analysis, is disgusting. FIFA leaders being bribed to hold the games in Qatar is disgusting. The current FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s speech on the eve of the World Cup where he compared critics of the World Cup being held in Qatar to feelings of discrimination of gays, blacks, Middle Easterners, disabled and migrant workers was disgusting. The powers that be keeping everybody from fans to media to the athletes from being able to protest the many things worth protesting in Qatar and around the world at the games is disgusting.

Everything about the World Cup being played in Qatar is disgusting.

Here’s the thing though … I understand all of that. But I can’t in good conscience tell people who love the sport of soccer (or football as people literally everywhere else call it) that they shouldn’t watch the game they love on its biggest stage.

I hope soccer fans understand the reasons why the event being played in Qatar is horrendous. I hope they take the time to reflect on how FIFA has turned their favorite sporting event into an embarrassment to many and how they are partaking in sportswashing. Though because the media outlet – Fox – carrying the event in the U.S. is taking a “stick to sports” and “everything in Qatar is fine” mentality (what would you really expect from a Rupert Murdoch-owned network) to covering the event some fans may not even realize what is happening or what has happened in the country.

I understand how it feels to love a sport(s) and be incredibly disappointed in those running the league or event. Just last year I watched and enjoyed many hours of the Beijing Summer Olympics despite knowing the country is at best interning millions of Uyghurs and at work committing genocide against them. Because of my privilege of being American, I can call out the atrocities being committed by China, while still rooting for my favorite American athletes in a multitude of sports, many of which I only get the chance to see every four years when the Olympics come around. I can curse the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their choice of continuing to give countries like China and Russia Olympic games.

I’ve been a NASCAR fan for over 20 years and the sport is almost constantly doing things that make me roll my eyes and call out the powers that be from almost annually having races sponsored by the National Rife Association (NRA) to inviting the most hateful president in the history of the United States in Donald Trump to attend and grand marshal the Daytona 500, the sports biggest event.

I may despise the NRA and former President Trump, but I love racing.

Does it feel dirty to watch these events when you realize the evil behind them or allowed to attend or sponsor them? Yes, it does, for me at least. But I love competition. I realize some would call me a hypocrite for watching these events, despite hating the politics behind some of them. I feel as long as I’m calling out the atrocities I can give myself a pass for enjoying the on-the-field/court/track action.

---