The 211 member federations of FIFA met this Thursday morning in Doha, for a congress, on the eve of the draw for the World Cup. Beyond the announcement of a new candidacy by Gianni Infantino, the temporary abandonment of the biennial world championship project, it is the debates on human rights in Qatar that have been the subject of all the attention. This is a question that has raged since Qatar obtained the right to organize the World Cup in 2010. Several foreign workers have notably died during the construction sites of the stadiums.
The president of the Norwegian federation, Lise Klaveness gave a very strong speech: “The decision to grant the World Cup to Qatar was taken in an unacceptable manner. There is no place for employers who do not ensure the freedom and safety of workers at the Mondial. No place for leaders who do not welcome women’s football. No place for host countries that cannot legally guarantee the safety and respect of LGBT people”.
This speech was held in front of the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, and in front of the president of the organizing committee, Hassan Al-Thawadi. The latter said he was “disappointed that this speech was held without having previously exchanged with the Qatari authorities”. The president of Fifa preferred to quickly evacuate this subject on the table after having underlined the progress made by Qatar: “If you also have questions about football, it would not be so bad”.
Noël Le Graët considers that “Qatar is opening up to the world”
Present at the congress, the president of the French Football Federation, Noël Le Graët, also reacted a few hours later in an interview with AFP. The latter preferred to retain an optimistic view of things: “We see that the World Cup in Qatar will advance human rights very quickly and very significantly. Qatar is opening up to the world. Progress has been immense over the past three years […] many decisions have been taken in the direction of the social. Those who visit in a very neutral way know that it is not yet the same thing as in Europe because it is a developing country”.
The controversies over the place of human rights in Qatar have therefore not finished talking about by the start of the World Cup, on November 21.
