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  • Between incoherent pledges and an inefficient system: failing to provide effective remedies to migrant workers in Qatar

    Last month, FIFA announced that Saudi Arabia will host the next 2034 World Cup. Their announcement highlights unsolved issues from the 2022 Qatar edition.

    FIFA and Qatar did not uphold the respect of migrant workers’ rights involved in building the necessary infrastructures for the most important football competition. This negligence convinced different members of the civil society to intervene. For example, on May 19, 2022, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, in combination with other human rights organizations, migrant groups and labour unions, requested FIFA and Qatari authorities to compensate for the serious abuses committed. This joint open letter directed to Gianni Infantino (President of FIFA) urged a collaboration between FIFA, the government of Qatar, and the International Labour Organization (ILO). In particular, it was asked to establish a reparation programme of at least 440 million US dollars for migrant workers and their families.

    However, the result is deceiving, notwithstanding that FIFA has declared to be open to mediate to provide solutions to the victims. At the moment, Qatar has compensated some migrants who faced grave abuses. However, these programmes came too late or were inefficient. The compensation programmes in Qatar are narrow in scope and lack serious enforcement. In particular, HRW showed that Qatar’s courts are slow in adjudicating cases brought by migrant workers, and when deciding in their favour, companies do not obey the adjudication. Furthermore, accessing the Qatari compensation system becomes practically impossible once the victims return home.

    An examination of both the FIFA statute and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights shows that FIFA is accountable for the human rights violations committed in Qatar. In particular, they were contributing to forced labour, wage theft and deaths. However, FIFA’s position regarding compensation has not been straightforward. Publicly, it has expressed that it wants to help workers in Qatar to get compensation. However, the plans and methods proposed have been questionable. Firstly, on March 16, 2023, at the 73rd Congress of FIFA, it was declared that FIFA would commit itself to compensating the migrant workers of Qatar. At that point, it created the project ”FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Legacy Fund to benefit people most in need”.

    Nonetheless, the initiative has no relevant connection with compensating migrant workers as it focuses on educating children, creating a labour excellence hub, and inviting thirds for contribution. Ultimately, Gianni Infantino declared that the duty of compensation would fall under the responsibility of the Qatari Worker Insurance Fund. This statement suggests that FIFA has decided not to be actively involved in compensation.

    On the Qatari side, Qatari authorities have introduced several initiatives for compensation, including the Labour Ministry’s Wage Protection System, the Labour Dispute Resolution Committees and the Workers Support and Insurance Fund. However, as discussed before, these programmes suffer from late introduction, narrow scope and faulty implementation. Furthermore, Qatar only accepts claims related to death or severe injuries while declining the others. In this prospect, the authorities failed to investigate thoroughly the causes of deaths and attributed a large portion of them as ‘’natural causes’’. Hence, the scale of uncompensated human rights abuses has remained significant. Under international human rights law, Qatar must prevent widespread human rights abuses and ensure remedies for them.

    From the above-presented information, compensation remains a complicated issue. The tools established to provide for reparations have been established in 2020, and they are not retroactive; this means that a relevant number of migrant workers cannot access them. In addition, the procedures connected with compensation in Qatar are characterized by delays and opacity in decisions. Providing such an inefficient system highlights a significant disinterest in the rights of migrants from FIFA and Qatar. They hold shared responsibility for causing the theft of wages, offering dire conditions of work and causing thousands of deaths.

    As FIFA was aware that Qatar did not have an appropriate working system to host a World Cup, it should claim responsibility and provide a new serious compensation platform. Only 48,000 migrant workers have been compensated, and leaving the responsibility of compensation only to Qatar poses ulterior risks of respecting the due process of their rights. Qatar is requested to abide by investigations following due process, taking the claims seriously, and responding to them following principles of justice. Finally, defending the victims’ rights is recommended by litigating in court against FIFA and issuing lawsuits against Qatari construction companies from foreign jurisdictions.

    The post Between incoherent pledges and an inefficient system: failing to provide effective remedies to migrant workers in Qatar appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • War on Gaza: Israeli failures, US charades and a negotiated truce

    ANALYSIS: By Mouin Rabbani

    In the early hours of November 22, Qatar formally announced that an agreement had been reached for an Israeli-Palestinian exchange of captives — and it came into force today.

    The available details suggest it largely reflects the proposal offered by Hamas several weeks ago that was initially rejected by Israel.

    Тhe announcement was made just a week after Israeli tanks and soldiers stormed into the al-Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City, causing international outrage.

    Israel had claimed that there was a Hamas command centre there and repeatedly vowed to destroy it. As it happened, the only facility to be found within the compound was a hospital.

    The United States fully supported Israel’s violation of al-Shifa’s sanctity and even claimed it had independent intelligence about a Palestinian Pentagon beneath it but produced no evidence in support of this assertion.

    At the time, this led to speculation that these events may have been the product of an informal US-Israeli agreement: The Biden administration would support Israel’s seizure of al-Shifa and would cover for this war crime politically and diplomatically with lies of its own, thus allowing an Israeli military with few achievements since October 7 to have its “Iwo Jima moment” atop “Mount Shifa”.

    But once it would become clear that there was nothing of military significance within the premises, the US would proceed to finalise a deal with Hamas and Israel would have to agree to its implementation.

    Deal largely the Hamas offer
    It does indeed appear to be the case that in exchange for US support for Israel’s systematic destruction of the health sector in the Gaza Strip, a deal with Hamas has been reached.

    Qatari Foreign Minister announces the Gaza temporary truce details
    A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Bin Mohammed Al Ansari announces the Gaza temporary truce details. Image: AJ screenshot APR

    The agreement is significant in several respects. Perhaps most importantly, the US and Israel, which repeatedly vowed to eradicate Hamas, are now negotiating with the Palestinian movement and reaching agreements with it.

    Qatari-Egyptian mediation, while indispensable, is ultimately a formality. The US and Israel are not negotiating with Egypt and Qatar but with Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and architect of the October 7 attacks.

    The tenor of Israeli press reports in recent days has been that Hamas is desperate for a respite, however brief and at almost any price, from the ferocious Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip.

    Yet the available reports about the deal suggest otherwise:

    • Israel has committed to releasing three times as many imprisoned women and children as the Palestinians;
    • No Israeli soldiers are included in the exchange;
    • Significantly more humanitarian supplies, including fuel, will reach the Gaza Strip;
    • The exchange of captives will be implemented during a continuous four-day truce rather than one in which the slaughter is paused for a brief period each day; and
    • Israeli jets and drones will be prohibited from using the airspace over the Gaza Strip for several hours each day.


    Why are so many Palestinians imprisoned?

    This is quite close to the deal initially offered by Hamas several weeks ago, and it appears the bulk of its demands have been conceded by Israel and the US.

    If the adage that negotiations reflect reality on the ground rather than overturning it applies, Hamas — in contrast to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, which has been Israel’s main target — seems far from desperate.

    Instead, it appears sufficiently confident to stick to its priorities until these are accepted by the US and Israel.

    The details of the Gaza temporary truce
    The details of the Gaza temporary truce between Israel and Hamas mediated by Gaza, Egypt and the United States. Image: AJ screenshot APR

    US, Israel forced to concede
    “Pursuant to the agreement, Hamas has also forced the US and Israel to consent to the supply of large amounts of essential humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip.

    In other words, Hamas has in one fell swoop achieved exponentially more on the humanitarian front than the much-vaunted US diplomacy to secure humanitarian relief for Gaza’s Palestinian civilians during the past month.

    This confirms that the entire US effort was in essence a circus — a diversionary charade to enable Israel to continue with its mass killings and transform the Gaza Strip into a wasteland and a killing field.

    It bears repeating that Hamas has forced the US and Israel to allow significant quantities of food, water, medicine and fuel to reach the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

    A UN-run school in Gaza was bombed by Israeli forces shortly before the truce began today
    A UN-run school in Gaza was bombed by Israeli forces shortly before the truce began today. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot APR

    Yet Hamas is the anointed terrorist organisation in this equation while Israel is the light unto nations with the world’s most “moral army” and the US is the world’s greatest democracy dedicated to spreading freedom and human rights to the rest of the planet.

    What happens next is difficult to assess. According to reports, only Israeli and dual nationals are to be released, presumably to help the Israeli leadership swallow this very bitter pill and to allay Israeli concerns that the release of foreign nationals would be privileged in negotiations with Hamas.

    Yet by insisting on this formula, Israel has ensured that further negotiations to release foreign citizens would continue, potentially leading to an extension of the truce.

    War in Israeli PM’s interests
    At the same time, it is difficult to believe that the Israeli leadership can accept a temporary truce that metamorphoses into an indefinite one. It is clearly in the Israeli premier’s personal and political interest to keep this conflict going while the security establishment is also desperate to wipe away the stain of October 7.

    Other members of Israel’s governing coalition partners see this war as a golden opportunity to unleash the apocalypse and want it to escalate further rather than wind down.

    Although the Gaza Strip has been substantially destroyed, Hamas has yet to be significantly degraded, and the Israeli army has yet to kill more Hamas commanders than United Nations staff.

    If Israel is confident it can once again flout US policy without consequences, it will. This could take the form of sabotaging the truce or resuming hostilities to ensure it is not extended. Farther afield, the Israeli-Lebanese front also seems to be rapidly heating up.

    So further escalation is likely, but it is also possible that the implementation of this deal could cause Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to collapse under a combination of public pressure and internal conflicts among leaders who mutually detest and distrust each other.

    The US leadership is also a question mark. With respect to the impact of this crisis on US interests in the region and beyond and particularly the question of regional escalation, US President Joe Biden appears not to care, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appears not to know while CIA Director William Burns and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin look mortified.

    Which faction gains the upper hand remains an open question.

    The one conclusion that can already be drawn is that the various “day after” scenarios produced by the Washington echo chamber can be safely discarded because they uniformly require the eradication of Hamas and not negotiated agreements with it.

    Mouin Rabbani is a co-editor of Jadaliyya and non-resident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies in Doha, Qatar.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia: Agreeing to repeat human rights violations.

    On the 31st of October, FIFA announced that Saudi Arabia had become the sole bidder of the 2034 World Cup. The decision certainly does not come as a surprise. FIFA has regularly been criticized for bribery scandals and its nonchalance in sponsoring World Cups in states with poor human rights standards (Russia, China, Qatar).

    Nonetheless, the most authoritative football federation’s official stance is to ensure complete respect for human rights in the preparation process for the World Cup. Arguably, it does so by referring to Article 7 of the FIFA Human Rights Policy and underlining its adherence to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. However, doubts can be raised on how binding these instruments are since neither Qatar nor FIFA compensated the families for the deaths and injuries of migrant workers during Qatar’s turn at hosting the prestigious sporting event.

    The founding issues in accepting a bid for a World Cup from a country from the Arab Gulf, like Qatar or Saudi Arabia, are plenty. In an attempt to clarify the situation, these issues can be divided into three categories: 1) The poor human rights standards of these states (inclusiveness, freedom of expression, political repression); 2) accepting the rights of workers at stake considering that the kafala system is inherently abusive: and3) allowing these countries to fulfil the strategy of ”sports whitewashing” to deflect from their poor human rights standards. Considering that the first and third issues are founded on the national strategies of these states, FIFA and other stakeholders usually appease them by accepting significant sums of money. However, reluctantly accepting that these two issues fall under ”state decisions,” it is unacceptable that FIFA becomes actively responsible for the deaths of thousands of workers.

    This topic was particularly pressing for the last World Cup in Qatar. In this instance, migrant workers were hired for the construction of hotels and stadiums and were subjected to various human rights abuses. The first topic was how the workers were hired under the kafala sponsorship system. The system is a sponsorship by the employer, who will cover his employees’ travel expenses and accommodation. The issue with this system lies in its deregulation. In the case of Qatar, workers had no protection under labour law, which granted the kafeel (employer) the ability to exploit workers on different levels. Some examples are extra hours of work, blackmailing migrant workers on the outcome of their visa, and denying the possibility to cease the contract of employment. The second issue, inherently connected with the first, is the working conditions migrant workers must bear. A 2021 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report showed that a hazard for workers in Qatar was extreme heat exposure, which causes health complications.

    Considering this information and ascertaining that Qatar and Saudi Arabia share political and legal similarities, it is possible to foresee the human rights violations of the 2034 World Cup. Saudi Arabia holds a Kafala system similar to that in place in Qatar, although they ostensibly reformed it in March 2021. However, HRW highlighted how the labour reforms did not uphold human rights standards. The reform allows workers to request an exit permit (document granting authorization to leave the country) without the employers’ permission. Even with this, exiting a country is a freedom rather than a procedure that needs to be accepted by third parties. Michael Page, Middle East Director of HRW, describes the Saudi Arabian kafala as the most abusive system in the region. Common violations are confiscation of passports, delayed wages and forced labour. In addition, the employers are still responsible for renewing the work permits, and – as happened in Qatar – workers often suffer the consequences of possibly being undocumented. Considering these aspects, the 2021 reforms of the kafala system by Saudi Arabia need to be revised, bearing in mind that it remains to be seen what criteria the ministry would use in accepting workers’ exit requests.

    Furthermore, Saudi Arabia lies in the same geographic area as Qatar; in summer, it reaches 40 degrees Celsius and beyond. Considering these circumstances, the regulations should follow Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, which prohibits working beyond 31.2 Celsius. However, the fact that the labour union cannot monitor the kafala agreements will likely cause a repetition of the human rights issues in Qatar.

    Considering this situation, particular attention is necessary to monitor the status of human rights for workers in Saudi Arabia in the future. FIFA’s bidding documents show that 14 stadiums are needed to be built to host the World Cup. To do so, 13.4 million migrant workers are expected to work on low-wage services and few human rights protections. As a result, it appears that FIFA has decided again to accomplish human rights abuses will likely lead to a new inescapable tragedy with no accountability.

    The post 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia: Agreeing to repeat human rights violations. appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

    This post was originally published on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

  • Arab states react to surprise attack against Israel

    Arab states react to surprise attack against Israel 07 October 2023, Israel, Sderot: Israeli officers secure the area following the attacks of Hamas © Getty Images / Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images

    A number of Arab states have called for “restraint” and a de-escalation of violence following the launch of the largest attack in years on Israeli territory early on Saturday morning.

    Qatar, a Gulf state that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, issued a statement through its foreign ministry on Saturday in which it said that the ultimate responsibility for the so-called ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ operation conducted by Hamas lies with the Israeli government.

    Doha added in its statement its desire for both sides in the conflict to exercise restraint, and called on the international community to ensure that Israel does not use the event as an excuse for a “disproportionate” response against Palestinians in Gaza.

    Saudi Arabia, another state that does not currently have formal ties with Israel, also released a statement on X (formerly Twitter) to say that it was “closely following up on the unprecedented developments” between “Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation forces.”

    The Saudi foreign ministry also said it had repeatedly “warned of the dangers” that might occur “as a result of the continued occupation” and for “depriving the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights.”

    In recent weeks, the leadership of both Saudi Arabia and Israel have signaled a desire to normalize relations, with the United States understood to be actively negotiating the details. Earlier this week, Hamas expressed its “unwavering position of rejecting all forms of normalization and contact with the Israeli occupation.”

    Early on Saturday, Hamas militants entered Israeli territory and have appeared to gain a foothold of control in some communities in the south of the country. Israeli authorities said more than 2,000 rockets had been launched from Gaza. At least 40 people have been killed, Israel’s health ministry said on Saturday afternoon, with more than 500 people injured. Reports have also said that an unknown number of Israeli citizens and soldiers have been taken captive.

    Egypt, meanwhile, cautioned of potentially “grave consequences” that might emerge from a further escalation of tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. Its foreign ministry also called on both sides to exercise “maximum restraint and avoid exposing civilians to further danger.”

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday during a congress of his AK Party in Ankara that both sides in the conflict “must refrain from aggressive acts.” He also warned against “any kind of attempt” to damage or harm the “historical and religious status” of Al-Aqsa mosque in the occupied territory of East Jerusalem.

    The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah also issued a statement on Saturday to indicate that it was “in direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance.” It added that Hamas’ assault could be viewed as a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalization with Israel.”

    However, Hezbollah’s statement stopped short of expressing an intention to militarily support the attack.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Veteran Chinese rights activist barred from boarding Qatar Airways flight to Ecuador

    A prominent rights activist from the southern Chinese province of Guangzhou has been prevented from boarding a Qatar Airways flight from Bangkok to Ecuador, where he had hoped to take his family to claim political asylum in the United States.

    Liang Songji, who has been repeatedly jailed by the Chinese authorities for his peaceful criticism of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, said he had planned to take the July 13 flight to Ecuador but was prevented from checking in by airline staff.

    “As soon as Qatar Airlines swiped my passport, they gave it straight back to me,” Liang said, adding that staff refused to check the family in, although they had the right tickets, visas, COVID-19 test certificates and evidence of hotel reservations for all three family members.

    “The staff told me that this was due to a decision made at senior levels [in their company]. When they looked into it further, they said it was the Ecuadorian government’s decision not to allow the three of us to board.”

    Liang said he is skeptical about the claim that his apparent travel ban came from the Ecuadorian foreign ministry, and has tried to meet with U.S. consular officials in Bangkok, given that he plans to claim political asylum in that country.

    He said he had planned to ‘walk the line’ from Ecuador northwards to Mexico overland, a route taken by a growing number of Chinese nationals fleeing their home country in what has been dubbed the “run” movement.

    “Ecuador is a very hot route [for Chinese fleeing China] right now, because everyone travels north from there to get to the United States and Canada,” Liang said. “I’d figured that even if I ran out of money, we could stay in Ecuador.”

    “The real question is whether this really is coming from Ecuador – I think it probably isn’t,” he said. “It’s all over the internet that there is a visa-free entrance agreement between China and Ecuador.”

    Liang said airline staff had refused to issue a refund for his family’s three tickets.

    On Friday, he presented himself at the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, requesting an emergency meeting with a diplomat.

    “They rejected my request,” said Liang, who arrived in Thailand last month, and whose Thai tourist visa expired on Saturday.

    “I really don’t know what plans I can make now,” he said. “It’s impossible for me to return to China now.”

    Emails sent to the U.S. State Department and to Qatar Airways’ headquarters requesting comment went unanswered since Friday.

    Beaten and strip-searched 

    Liang was arrested in November 2018 after he witnessed the forcible strip-searching and beating of Guangzhou rights attorney Sun Shihua by police in the city, and later sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a catch-all charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the government.

    An associate who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said Liang had been trying to leave China since 2015.

    ENG_CHN_BangkokDissident_07142023.2.jpg
    Liang Songji was arrested in November 2018 after witnessing the forcible strip-searching and beating of Guangzhou rights attorney Sun Shihua [shown] by police. Credit: Courtesy of Sun Shihua

    “It wouldn’t be an issue if it was just him, he could apply for a United Nations refugee card like others have done, but there are three of them to think about,” the associate said.

    Rights groups and academic researchers say Beijing often joins forces with its political allies to force overseas dissidents to return to China, as well as putting huge pressure on any loved ones they leave behind.

    Governments around the world have launched investigations into police “service stations” run on foreign soil by the provincial police department in the southeastern province of Fujian, while activists and dissidents have spoken out about threats and retaliation by the state security police or pro-China businessmen overseas.

    Chinese political refugees in Thailand, many of whom smuggled themselves across Southeast Asia to escape persecution by the authorities back home, say the country is no longer a safe haven for dissidents, as the Thai authorities seem increasingly willing to hand them back over to Beijing.

    Several Chinese asylum-seekers—some of whom were recognized by the United Nations as genuine refugees—have been deported for immigration violations, throwing the expatriate dissident community into a state of constant fear, according to interviews given to Radio Free Asia.

    In July 2018, authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing jailed rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei after they were sent home from Thailand as they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees, prompting an international outcry.

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Gao Feng for RFA Mandarin.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Indonesia confirms Qatari Mirage 2000 buy

    The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) has confirmed that it has agreed to buy Qatar’s fleet of French-built Dassault Mirage 2000 combat aircraft to address a persistent air defence gap, the service said in a 14 June announcement. The TNI-AU stated that it had signed a €733 million (US$793.14 million) contract in January 2023 to acquire […]

    The post Indonesia confirms Qatari Mirage 2000 buy appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • £19.3bn of fossil fuels imported by UK from authoritarian states in year since Ukraine war

    As Russian oil and gas imports fell petrostates including UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia increased exports to UK

    UK fossil fuel imports from authoritarian petrostates surged to £19.3bn in the year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it can be revealed.

    Efforts to end the purchasing of oil and gas from Russia appear to have resulted in a surge in imports from other authoritarian regimes, including Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to data from the Office for National Statistics analysed by DeSmog.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Former TVNZ Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria breaks year-long silence in The Balance podcast

    By Lincoln Tan of The New Zealand Herald

    Former TVNZ Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria, who quit following complaints about inappropriate workplace behaviour, has broken his silence and started a podcast he says would “set some records straight”.

    The Emmy-nominated broadcaster lasted just 32 days at TVNZ after working at Al Jazeera, where he had also been accused of having sent a lewd email to a female colleague.

    Speaking publicly for the first time in more than a year, Santamaria talked about the allegations, the effect they have had and how the reporting of them had led to his new website The Balance.

    “It is very much informed and directed by my own experience over the past year, and yes I will be using it to set some records straight,” he told listeners in the first episode of his podcast, RE: Balance.

    “Because in the end, I trust myself to tell my story.”

    Santamaria said he had been a journalist for nearly 25 years, but for the last year had had to live with the label of being “a disgraced journalist”.

    “That’s not a pleasant title to live with but that’s how it’s been ever since my departure from TVNZ in May of last year,” he said.

    ‘Full story yet to be told’
    For legal reasons, Santamaria said he had not spoken about his departure from TVNZ — but he told listeners he would when he is able.

    “The full story has definitely not been told, yet,” he said.

    The Balance
    The Balance . . . Hosted by former Al Jazeera and TVNZ presenter Kamahl Santamaria who says he now “knows a thing or two about ‘being the story’ and how the quest for clicks and eyeballs can result in a story that doesn’t quite match the headline.” Image: APR screenshot

    “The headline doesn’t always match the story, and countering that is a big part of what I’m embarking on with The Balance.

    Santamaria said what happened had forced him to stop, look at himself and his behaviour in the past, and acknowledge there were times when he just got it wrong.

    “I am deeply sorry for that and for the effect I have now learned that it had on others,” he said.

    He said they also prompted him to look at the environments he was working in.

    “What I failed to recognise was particularly in a post ‘Me Too’ world, there is just no place for over friendly, over-familiar, flirtatious, tactile behaviour or banter in the workplace no matter how friendly that workplace is or how prevalent that behaviour might be.

    Mistakes impacted on health
    “I’ve made mistakes but I hope my past doesn’t define who I am in the future.”

    Santamaria said the effect on his mental health and that of his family has been “immense, dilapidating and long-lasting” and “it still goes on now”.

    He revealed he had been in hiding for a year “growing a beard, always wearing a cap”, afraid to use his own name, and that he is on medication.

    Santamaria referred to a report about his visit to the National Business Review, which he said was the “one time” we went out publicly and a journalist turned it into a story.

    He said the journalist wrote about how uncomfortable he made people feel by just shaking their hands.

    “The whole thing was utterly ridiculous to the point now where I don’t even shake people’s hands anymore.”

    Santamaria disclosed that in the early stages, he had been on heavy medication during the day and sedation at night, and the family had him on a round-the-clock suicide watch.

    He said he had been in no position, physically or mentally, to speak up for himself at the time.

    “The fact that I am still here now is a testament to my family who kept me alive when I didn’t want to go on and they continue to do so,” he said.

    First published by The New Zealand Herald and republished here with the author’s permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Qatar buying Manchester United would be a disaster – just look at the state of PSG | Barney Ronay

    Putting all but basic football competence aside, the cautious progress made under Erik ten Hag would be destroyed in an instant

    And here’s one we made earlier. Please ignore the noises from the basement. We, the sovereign state of Qatar, are here to restore the lost soul of your prized social-sporting institutions. And it’s all going to be fine. There was an unavoidable significance this week in the coincidence of two apparently unrelated events. First the suggestion that Qatar really may have a serious interest in buying Manchester United, or at least enough interest to add its name to the list before Friday’s “soft” deadline. And second the deliciously more-ish scenes of chaos at Paris Saint-Germain as the current Qatari football project confirmed its status as the most thrillingly grotesque entity in European club football.

    It is worth stating this simply: Qatar buying United would be an absolute disaster for the team, the Premier League and Uefa. And not just for reasons such as human rights abuses, which nobody really seems to care about, or the fact nation-state ownership is by definition unhealthy, and foreign policy never benign. In the end none of this really seems to cut through. What makes an impact is basic footballing competence. We hear talk already of how “classy” Newcastle’s Saudi owners are, which is no doubt a huge comfort to those the state has classily beheaded, or gay people in Saudi being (classily) tortured.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Manchester United fans, let’s fight takeover by Qatar | Letter

    Kathryn Fletcher says United and City fans should pull together in protest against the sportswashing of human rights abuses in the UAE and Qatar

    Your article (Manchester United Q&A: could Qatari investors realistically buy the club?, 8 February) addresses questions surrounding the possible takeover of Manchester United by Qatar. It focuses on the Uefa ownership rules as a potential stumbling block, but ignores human rights (the very issue featured in the photo accompanying the article, which shows a supporter holding up a sign saying “No to Qatar – Human Rights Matter”). As a season ticket holder who is an active member of Amnesty International, I am more concerned about my club being used to further sportswash human rights abuses. These are now well known following the World Cup exposure.

    I call on concerned Manchester United fans to join the Manchester Amnesty group to campaign against this takeover. We would also love to hear from Manchester City fans unhappy about the appalling human rights abuses in the United Arab Emirates. To those who love football but hate the murky side: let’s come together. A city united!
    Kathryn Fletcher
    Manchester

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Leaked documents suggest Qatar bribed US-backed Afghan leaders to avoid resisting Taliban

    Leaked documents suggest that Qatar paid hundreds of millions of dollars to key Afghan government officials – including a former president – to not resist the Taliban.

    The documents reportedly show that Qatar paid $110m to ex-president Ashraf Ghani to stop the Afghan military fighting the Taliban a month before the 2021 collapse of the US-backed government. The Khaama Press alleges that payments of $51m and $61m were made to Marshal Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor respectively – both powerful figures in Afghan politics. Dostum was a senior military officer. and major player in successive Afghan governments. Noor was similarly highly ranked, as former governor of Balkh province.

    The documents were first reported by Italian media outlet Tg1 following an investigation by journalist Filippo Rossi:

    The story was subsequently reported in English by the Afghan-based Khaama Press News Agency.

    Corruption

    The investigation found three documents which appear to show corruption at the highest levels. One claims that Ajmal Ahmadi, former head of an Afghan bank and a close advisor to Ghani, received $110m from Qatar on Ghani’s behalf. 

    Ghani was previously accused of fleeing Afghanistan with millions of dollars during the 2021 collapse:

    He denied reports that he escaped the Islamist militants with over $150 million in cash belonging to the Afghan people, calling the claims “completely and categorically false.”

    One document reportedly shows Dostum received $51m from Qatar. Khaama reported :

    The document praised Dostum’s sincere cooperation in retreating from the northern provinces’ battlefields, such as Fariyab and Jawzjan provinces.

    On top of this, one Mohammad Farhad Azimi – a representative of Atta Mohammad Noor – received $61m from a Qatari representative in Kabul. Noor is former anti-Taliban commander. Both Noor and Dostum reportedly fled to Uzbekistan as Afghanistan collapsed in August 2021.

    Meetings and conspiracies

    This conspiracy, then, would have taken place at the very highest levels of leadership. Khaama reported that :

    The documents also revealed that all three representatives of the former Afghan leaders received money from the Qatar representative after signing the documents on July 7, 2021.

    The documents also detailed a meeting between a Qatari official and Ghani in July 2021, around a month before the occupation and the US-backed government collapsed.

    The Khaama report claims the documents indicate a conspiracy among powerful Afghan figures to sell out for Qatari cash:

    The letters also further highlight that the money was granted to all three prominent leaders to avoid resisting the Taliban fighters.

    And that:

    The documents allegedly show that Ashraf Ghani received money to avoid resistance. In contrast, Dostum and Noor received money from the Qatar government not to fight against the Taliban in Northern Afghanistan.

    2021 Collapse

    The speed of the 2021 collapse of the Afghan government – and with it the 20-year US occupation – shocked many. Since then, the people in Afghanistan have continued to suffer great hardships, much as they did under foreign occupation.

    It remains to be seen how concrete these claims are. Clearly, more information is needed. However, the possibility that Afghanistan’s own leaders sold out the country to the Taliban adds another layer of bitterness to what is already one of the great human tragedies of our times.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Voice of America News, cropped to 770 x 403.

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Welsh first minister criticised for ‘lavish’ World Cup hotel stay paid by Qatar

    Mark Drakeford and economy minister Vaughan Gething were guests of host nation at five-star Ritz-Carlton

    The Welsh first minister has been criticised for staying in a five-star hotel paid for by the Qatar government during his trip to the football World Cup.

    Mark Drakeford and the Welsh economy minister, Vaughan Gething, stayed at the Ritz-Carlton as guests of the host nation.

    Continue reading…

  • How the Abraham Accords Got the Middle Finger at Qatar World Cup

    In 2010, when Qatar was awarded the right to host the 2022 World Cup tournament the Gulf kingdom became the focus of a disparaging campaign. Qatar was accused of mistreating migrant workers engaged to build World Cup projects.

    The campaign against Qatar as host nation involved Britain, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Demonstrations took place outside the Qatari Embassy in London, with the slogan “Qatar: stop funding terrorism.” The demonstrations were reportedly run by Sussex Friends of Israel and the Israeli Forum Task Force, joined by UK Lawyers for Israel and Stand With Us (SWU).

    Sussex Friends of Israel is linked to Israeli Zionist faction known as Over the Rainbow. SWU is a right-wing pro-Israel lobby group working closely with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Israel uses it to ‘amplify our power’ and ‘for leverage’.

    Until 2009 Qatar and Israel had diplomatic relations, but after 22 days of unrelenting aerial attacks with intensive ground incursions, when Israel killed some 1,400 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, including women and children, Qatar severed diplomatic ties with Israel. This explains the protests against the Qatar World Cup that were depicted as defending LGBTQ and workers’ rights. Actually it was not just a matter of “human rights” but a geopolitical and foreign policy strategy of Israel.

    Despite all these attacks against Qatar, the wealthy Gulf state was the biggest recipient of UK arms between April and June 2022. Since it won the right to host the World Cup, Qatar has been granted £3.4bn ($4.1 billion) worth of weapons sales licenses by Britain.

    Under such circumstances, special flights were organised for Israeli fans and journalists to fly to Doha for the World Cup. They were in festive mood, bringing with them a cake decorated with Qatari and Israeli flags. The intention was to cover the World Cup and befriend the Arab public, hoping that with the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Arab regimes the issue of Palestine would have disappeared from the Arab consciousness.

    Little did they know that while Israel had acquired the recognition of some Arab rulers, it has never been accepted by the Arab masses. Once in Qatar, Israeli fans and reporters said they were surprised to find a less than welcoming atmosphere among Arab fans, with Palestinian flags and banners in evidence everywhere.

    They were surprised at the level of hostility that they encountered in Qatar. A Palestinian journalist retorted by saying, “I am surprised that they are surprised since what they are doing daily in Palestine is all over the world media (except in Israel maybe), but every action has a reaction”.

    And so social networks were awash with videos of fans from the Arab world strongly avoiding offers to engage in conversation with Israelis. Many simply walking away from Israeli reporters. Arab fans refused to talk to Israeli reporters because they did not want to confer legitimacy on Israel’s military occupation and apartheid. For them the act of speaking to Israel was a form of recognition of the displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian population.

    Fans from Morocco, one of the five nations that signed the Abraham Accords, were unwilling to appear on Israeli TV. They unfurled a “Free Palestine” banner during their country’s victory over Belgium. There were shows of solidarity with Palestine when Moroccan and Tunisian fans held up “Free Palestine” banner in the 48th minute of their matches. While celebrating their win over Spain, Morocco’s national team unfurled a Palestinian flag on the pitch. They also raised the Palestinian flag while celebrating their victory over Canada.

    During the match between Tunisia and France a football fan invaded the pitch, waving a Palestinian flag. When he was escorted out by the security, crowds in the stand chanted “Falastin! Falastin!” (Arabic for Palestine).

    Throughout the tournament, Arab fans could be seen holding Palestinian flags and wearing supportive t-shirts, or the kufiyah (headdress). Videos went viral in Israel and the Arab world showing football fans yelling at Israeli reporters, refusing to speak to them. They jeered while hoisting Palestinian flags behind Israeli reporters’ live shots.

    Israeli sports reporter Tal Shorrer said, “I was so excited to come in with an Israeli passport, thinking it was going to be something positive. It’s sad, it’s unpleasant. People were cursing and threatening us.”

    Actually the Israeli Foreign Ministry advised Israelis to keep a low profile in Doha. Some of them found it more prudent to lie about their nationality.

    One former Israeli football star, now commentator, posted a video showing a Qatari police officer driving him in a golf cart. He got a shocked reaction from the policeman after telling him he was Israeli. He then said he was joking and that he was actually from Portugal. The policeman said he would have stopped the cart and kicked him off if he was really Israeli. When the commentator asked the driver why, he replied, “I’m Palestinian”.

    Moav Vardi, chief international correspondent for the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN), told CNN he had expected some hostility from Palestinian and Arab fans, but not the level he has experienced in Qatar. Most Arab fans he tries to interview, he said, would just turn away when they discover he was Israeli. Few would even be engaging in “verbal assaults.” Soon he was recognized from videos that had gone viral, so he decided to remove the KAN logo from his microphone,

    Arab fans were also incensed by the double standards shown by FIFA and UEFA. While Ukraine and its NATO allies got the football bodies to suspend Russia from competing in their tournaments over Russian invasion, Palestinian efforts to get the same treatment for Israel over its invasion and occupation of Palestinian territories failed.
    Yet the irony is that Qatar World Cup will be remembered in a way for the historic victory of Palestine over Israel. Khaled Abu Zuhri, a Gazan sports commentator said, “Palestine had won without having sent either a team or a single player to Qatar or playing a single game”. The general perception was that Palestine was the 33rd country at the World Cup

    Among the spectators at the World Cup was Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump. The outpouring of support for Palestine expressed by Arab fans possibly made it clear to them how badly Kushner miscalculated when he and his father-in-law, former president Donald Trump, persuaded some Arab rulers to sign cooperation deals with Israel that discarded Palestinian rights.

    In his memoir Kushner claims to have brokered “a true turning point in history” when the UAE, Bahrain, Kosovo, Morocco and Sudan signed “peace” agreements with Israel. Yet unsurprisingly the reaction by Arabs fans and players at the Doha World Cup made it abundantly clear that there was hardly any public support in the Arab world for “peace” with Israel while millions of Palestinians continue living under Israeli military occupation, settler colonialism and Apartheid.

    The Arab fans were no doubt aware that Israel would not be doing all this with impunity without western support such as $3.8 billion in US military aid plus $8 billion in loan guarantees.

    The post How the Abraham Accords Got the Middle Finger at Qatar World Cup first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Brother of World Cup Whistleblower Imprisoned in Qatar Speaks Out

    Image Credit: Courtesy of Ziad Ibhais As the world’s attention turns to the World Cup final on Sunday between Argentina and France, we look at the case of imprisoned World Cup whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais, a former communications director for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organizers, who has been imprisoned since November 2019. Ibhais, a Jordanian national, was given a five-year sentence in Qatar on…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • The £100m Qatar whitewash: how UK advertisers put profit before protest

    Like the players, brands have in the end shied away from confrontation with the hosts during the World Cup

    More than £100m will be spent by brands hoping to cash-in on World Cup fever, but when it comes to taking host Qatar to task over its human rights record protest marketing has taken a back seat to sales targets.

    In the run-up to kick off of the football tournament in Qatar criticism of the gulf state was akin to shooting at an open goal.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Football Capitulates at Qatar

    It did not take much.  The initial promises of protest from a number of footballers and their teams at the Qatar FIFA World Cup were always suspect and hollow.  There was Denmark’s less than impressive form of camouflaged protest via merchandise, supposedly defiant with its logo free monochrome colours.  There was the barely threatening promise that armbands about love would be worn.

    Then came Australia’s own uniquely celluloid performance: videos from the players claiming sympathy with the various efforts made by Qatar in improving the record on human rights in various areas yet frowning about the fact that more could be done.

    From the moment the first ball was kicked, even these feeble efforts were bound to be found wanting.  FIFA President Gianni Infantino made his position clear from the outset, playing the role of defender of the Qatari state and mocking detractors for obsessing with such niggling things as human rights.

    In a letter sent to all 32 participating teams at the start of this month, Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura wrote that football, despite acknowledging that it did “not live in a vacuum” should not be “dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”  The organisation tried “to respect all opinions and beliefs, without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world.  No one people or culture or nation is ‘better’ than any other.”

    Having pretended to relativise all such positions, thereby making protest essentially meaningless, Infantino and his apparatchiks were keen to press home the point that footballers needed to focus on the ball. Gestures of protest on the pitch would not be tolerated – except through officially sanctioned FIFA channels.

    Of particular interest were hardly earth-shattering threats that the captains of a number of sides would be wearing “One Love” armbands.  Various national football federations baulked, noting that FIFA had “been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play.”

    The national federations could not put their “players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in the FIFA World Cup games.”  The bureaucrats behind the joint statement, in a weak effort to save face, insisted that they would have paid the fines normally applicable “to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband.  However, we cannot put our players in a position where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.”

    The teams of England, Wales, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands, duly complied, falling nine pins.  It really was just about the football.  Prior to their opening match against Iran, it had been reported that England’s captain Harry Kane would be braving the unsanctioned arm band.  He barely managed that.  Former Manchester United player Roy Keane offered his two bits worth by suggesting that Kane and his team should have done it for the first game and accepted the punishment.  “Take your medicine and in the next game move on.  You don’t wear it because you don’t want to get suspended but, I think it was a big mistake because both players – Wales and England – should have stuck to their guns and done it.”

    What FIFA got was exactly what it wanted: cowed teams and captains who would wear only approved protesting apparel.  In a statement dated November 21, the organisation confirmed that “its No Discrimination campaign has been brought forward from the planned quarter-finals stage in order that all 32 captains will have the opportunity to wear this armband during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.”

    While this was a victory chalked up to the grey suits in Zürich, other forms of protest had more serious implications.  In the case of the Iranian team, the stakes were far more serious.  Not singing the Iranian anthem in the first match in solidarity for protestors back in Iran was not a gesture appreciated by the clerical authorities.  But then again, some Iranian spectators have been less than impressed by a perception that the team is not supportive enough for the cause back home.  As a result, the side known as Team Melli has been given another name: Team Mullah.

    Iran’s footballers have come fair game and are being subjected to something a bit more serious than yellow cards and on field scolding.  A number of arrests have been made against figures supposedly sympathetic to the protests.  The footballer Voria Ghafouri was recently arrested for allegedly “insulting and sabotaging” the country’s team and spreading “propaganda against the regime”.

    Besieged and beleaguered, the plight of the players has left the coach, Carlos Queiroz, incensed.  “To those who come to disturb the team with the issues that are not only about the football opinions,” he told a news conference, “they’re not welcome because our boys, they’re just simple football boys.”

    While sounding a tad condescending, Queiroz revealed an understanding paternalism that sees the tie between ball and player as the only relationship that really matters.  “Let the kids play the game. Because this is what they’re looking for.  The wanted to represent the country, to represent the people, as any other national team that [is] here.  And all the national teams, there are issues at home.”

    The perennial issue: let footballers be footballers and leave the politics and moralising to those off the pitch.  To FIFA and the Qatari authorities, this must sound like the sweetest of music.

    The post Football Capitulates at Qatar first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • It can be hard to distinguish the cultural claims of right and left. Just look at Qatar | Kenan Malik

    Universal human rights or cultural imperialism? Divide clouds the debate over World Cup hosts

    “Everyone has their beliefs and cultures. We welcome and respect that. All we ask is that other people do the same for us.” So insists Yasir al-Jamal, deputy general secretary of the Qatar 2022 supreme committee for delivery and legacy for the World Cup.

    The torrent of criticism that has poured down on Qatar at the start of the World Cup, particularly over its treatment of women, gay people and migrant workers, has also created a pushback, both from supporters of the Qatari regime and those who see in the criticism only western “performative moral outrage”, “colonial myths” and “orientalist stereotypes”.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Could the Qatar World Cup be a turning point for ethics in sport? | Letters

    Dr Mike Diboll on our complicity in human rights abuses, Karl Eklund on apartheid South Africa, Antony Barlow on the UK’s own failings, and Stan Labovitch on why he won’t boycott watching the World Cup

    Nesrine Malik is correct: Putin’s Russia does “hunt” its exiled dissidents (It’s not just Qatar hoping we now ‘put politics aside’. It’s the hypocritical west, too, 21 November). Saudi Arabia does so too, for example Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Yet Saudi Arabia still gets to host a Formula One grand prix, so-called Clash on the Dunes boxing matches, and international golfing. The 2012 Bahrain grand prix went ahead amid torture and the shooting dead of unarmed protesters. Malik is also right to stress that our governments arm the Gulf states, provide them with surveillance technology, PR, political and diplomatic cover, and – in a situation where sovereign wealth is often hard to distinguish from private hyper-wealth – safe havens for blood money.

    In return for turning a blind eye to grotesque human rights abuses and institutional homophobia and misogyny, “we” get cheap hydrocarbons, “inward investment” that melds our economy with those of the Gulf states, a regional “security” stance and, in the case of Bahrain, a Royal Navy base. Gulf sportswashing has a wider context, and it is a sad reflection on us that human rights abuses only occasionally come to the fore during sporting events, and media debate is so often mired in anti-Arab racism.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Nobody was taking any lessons on sport and politics from John Fashanu today

    Former footballer John Fashanu didn’t get the response he was expecting today when he told Good Morning Britain (GMB) viewers that sport and politics should stay separate.

    Fashanu appeared on the morning television show amid the ongoing row about World Cup 2022 host Qatar. In particular, around Qatar’s vile anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.

    Yet just like Tory MP James Cleverley earlier this week, Fashanu insisted that the rules and regulations of the host nation should be followed:

    No lessons

    However, Twitter users didn’t seem to agree. More than one pointed out that Fashanu should know better, given that his own brother Justin – the first openly gay footballer – took his own life:

    Fashanu was branded a ‘disgrace’. Author Shola Mos-Shogbamimu said standing against inhumanity was not merely politics:

    Late brother

    And Peter Fearns seemed to think that Fashanu’s views were in line with a man who, it was claimed, ostracised his own brother:

    Just last month Fashanu told the Daily Mirror:

    If anyone was to blame for what happened it was me. I shunned my brother. If I was like that with him, what was everyone else like?

    Fashanu also said:

    how I treated him and how his tragic death which was suicide prompted by me, I would say, I am disappointed with myself, that’s one of the biggest disappointments, if i could change the clock, reverse the clock it would be wonderful.

    In fact, feelings were even stronger in some quarters, one Twitter user said:

    Qatar

    Fashanu seemed very certain when he told the interviewers:

    Politics and football, we try to keep them away from each other because if politics goes into football – which is what is happening – the politics go up and up and up and then eventually they will win. So I’m just very disappointed.

    Yet it is clear to any right-thinking person that sport and politics are never separate. Those who try to claim they should be, or even can be, are doing themselves a profound disservice when they come out with the kind of bullshit John Fashanu did today.

    The row over holding the World Cup in Qatar is likely to roll on for the whole tournament – as it should.

    Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Good Morning Britain

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Ginger Sufferings: Gianni Infantino’s Sportswashing Performance

    Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, the most famous 52-year-old brat of the world football federation, has not been much in the news of late.  Such creatures of authority do their best (and worst) work in the shadows.  But given that the FIFA Men’s World Cup is upon us, he thought it wise to address a few issues that had irked his pure, troubled self.  They were addressed to the naysayers and critics, those critical of Qatar’s human rights record, its approach to sexual minorities, its lamentable labour safety record, its successful bribing efforts to secure the bid in the first place. In short, the joke that is this World Cup.

    What followed was almost gruesome in its hilarity and could be summed up with the old biblical injunction against casting the first stone.  Perhaps there was something of US President Woodrow Wilson about it, who claimed in 1915 that no one nation could judge another.  (Fabulous as this was, the president proceeded to judge Imperial Germany and Kaiserism, committing the United States to World War I.)

    FIFA has always been of that restricted view of judgment, for good reason.  It hardly counts as a sporting organisation and should be likened to a mafia-styled corporation.  For its officials, corruption has been naturalised to the point of habit, and anyone willing to cast stones at it would need a quarry.

    What took place at this press conference in the lead-up to the tournament was an exemplar of sportswashing at its grotesquely finest, a sure sign that Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy had really struck a chord and gotten to the infantile, unhinged Infantino.

    In his attempted flaying of critics of Qatar’s record, the tournament and, by implication, his organisation’s credibility and competence, Infantino listed a range of groups who had been disadvantaged and abused, claiming kinship with all of them.  “Today I feel Qatari, today I feel Arab, today I feel African, today I feel gay, today I feel disabled, today I feel [sic] a migrant worker.”

    This promised to become a very poor performance in stand-up identity politics, but Infantino qualified his remarks by revealing a psyche troubled in childhood.  “I’m not Qatari, African, gay, disabled and I’m not really a migrant worker but I know what it means to be discriminated and bullied, as a foreign[er] in a foreign country, as a child at school I was bullied because I had red hair and freckles.  I was bullied for that.”  It all came down to being a persecuted ginger.

    Throughout his speech, he scolded the criticism as “moral lesson-giving”, one-sided and hypocritical.  “I don’t want to give you any lessons of life, but what is going on here is profoundly, profoundly unjust.”

    Europe itself needed to own up to its less than enviable record.  “For what we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years we should apologise for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons to people.”  How convenient.

    In salesman’s mode, Infantino urged the press and the baffled to engage, help and unite.  “The world is divided enough.  We are organising a FIFA World Cup, we’re not organising a war.  We organise a FIFA World Cup where people who have many problems in his or her life try to come and enjoy.”  The tournament would also “open the eyes of many people from the Western world to the Arab world.”

    Much of this delusional address, apart from a plea not to see the obvious, was based on the idea that societies can change with generous dollops of sporting endeavour.  But there is no reason why they should, nor much historical evidence that this has ever happened.  The reverse is true: the regime of the day takes in the kudos of putting on a show and feels rewarded.

    It is a false equation to assume that holding the Olympics in, say, Nazi Germany in 1936 could make societies more understanding and tolerant.  It certainly did not, nor did it change the pathway to war and genocide pursued by Hitler and his murderous henchmen.  The odious nonsense stemming from Infantino is the sort spouted by managerial classes from universities to sports administrators.  Police states and sport can exist and thrive side by side without any fuss.

    Often, the very sporting endeavour itself is appropriated, advanced as part of the state’s agenda.  Which is precisely why Qatar has been so busy, and profligate, hiring ethically dim footballers and amoral PR specialists to spruce its tattered image.  The authorities also know that no single team promised to boycott the tournament, leaving the players to engage in faux moralising about the country without effecting change.

    Infantino’s own role is clearly that of well moneyed servitude, the administrator’s toadying answer to David Beckham’s prostration and those players who happily receive the largesse of the Qatari state.

    Infantino best get back into the shadows, where he can grease palms and speculate about his past as a tormented, freckled ginger.  He will also be getting four more years as the head of FIFA.  “Repulsive.  Dangerous.  Damaging,” came the assessment from journalist Melissa Reddy, who was nonetheless there to cover the tournament.  “Yet this is a man being re-elected as head of FIFA unopposed.”  For someone bullied, he has done rather well for himself.

    The post Ginger Sufferings: Gianni Infantino’s Sportswashing Performance first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Will this World Cup mark the end of football as we know it? | Letters

    If the answer to the question is yes, then good riddance to the evils of sportswashing

    Jonathan Wilson raises the prospect that football in its current iteration – a sportswashing mechanism used by states with no regard for human life or rights – might suddenly disappear (“Just like the hat, football’s grip could suddenly go out of fashion after Qatar”, Sport). This would be a cause not for regret but for celebration and can surely be hastened by adopting a concept used to fight apartheid South Africa: no normal sport in an abnormal society. Thousands of migrant workers have died for the World Cup to be staged by a misogynistic and homophobic state that values dollars over deaths, and the society of the spectacle over the substance of humane practice.
    Darryl Accone
    Johannesburg, South Africa

    I admire Joanna Cannon’s stance in deciding for moral reasons not to watch the World Cup (“To watch it would make me complicit. A passive approver of homophobia”, Comment), but wonder whether she will also be boycotting her beloved Liverpool’s games against Newcastle United, who are owned by the equally unpleasant regime of Saudi Arabia?
    Ken Gambles
    Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • I hate the very idea of this World Cup in Qatar, but I’ll have to watch: it’s the beautiful game | Mihir Bose

    While sport speaks to the best of the human spirit, officials too often degrade it, exploiting fans’ love and loyalty for their own gain

    I must have been 10 when I went to a football match with my parents and realised that the game resonated far beyond the field of play. The game was at the Cooperage Stadium in Mumbai and we had gone to see East Bengal, a legendary Indian team, play in a cup competition. The team had been formed during the days of the Raj to represent the Hindus of East Bengal. This was where my father had grown up, amid much luxury, our family being part of the rich Hindu minority that dominated East Bengal, where most of the population was Muslim.

    All of this was lost in 1947 as a result of the partition of India, when East Bengal became East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and millions of Hindus left. My father, who had made Mumbai his home, knew he could never go back. Watching the East Bengal team that Sunday afternoon was his way of connecting with the land he always regarded as home and whose loss he mourned. As East Bengal won, my father’s spirits lifted.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • I’m a gay, unionist, football fan – so how can I watch the Fifa World Cup in Qatar? | Nita Green

    The World Cup’s spectacle has been tainted by Fifa’s decision to hold it in Qatar – we can’t focus on the football and ignore the brutal implications

    Normally in the weeks leading up to a Fifa World Cup, I plan the alarms I need to set to make sure I don’t miss a single kick-off. This year the World Cup is in Qatar. I’m a gay, unionist, football fan, so how do I prepare to watch a World Cup take place in a place where I wouldn’t feel welcomed?

    For football fans, the World Cup is sacred. Even Australians who do not follow the round ball game would know that the most iconic moments in recent Australian football history – John Aloisi’s penalty or Andrew Redmayne’s save – have simply been to qualify for the tournament. That is how special it is.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Dua Lipa and other artists do the right thing by not going to Qatar

    Flags of the countries participating in the World Cup on display in Doha, Qatar, this week.

    According to the Guardian of 14 November 2022, singer says she will not be playing at 2022 opening ceremony. The chart-topping 27-year-old singer, born in London to parents from Kosovo, said she would only play in the country if it improves its record on human rights.

    Controversy has surrounded the upcoming football tournament with Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and criminalisation of same-sex relationships under the spotlight. See also my recent: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/11/11/geneva-the-base-from-where-qatar-pursued-its-world-cup-bid/

    BTS star Jung Kook is the only official act confirmed for the opening ceremony, which will be held at Al Bayt stadium on 20 November. US rapper Diplo, DJ Calvin Harris and Jamaican singer Sean Paul will also be performing at the Fifa Fan festival, which will run over the 29 days of the tournament.

    Lipa is not the first musician to make a point of avoiding playing concerts in Qatar. On Sunday, Sir Rod Stewart revealed he turned down more than US$1m to play in the country last year.

    After reports linking her to the event, Lipa shared a statement on Instagram, writing: “There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the world cup in Qatar. I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform.

    “I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.” He told the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper: “I turned it down. It’s not right to go. And the Iranians should be out too for supplying arms [to Russia].”

    Also on Sunday, comedian Joe Lycett told David Beckham he would shred £10,000 if the sportsman didn’t pull out of his Qatar World Cup deal. The footballer is reportedly being paid £10m to be an ambassador for the event, and has been heavily criticised for accepting the money, given that he has previously been viewed as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community..

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/14/dua-lipa-denies-shes-performing-at-the-qatar-world-cup

  • Dua Lipa denies she’s performing at the Qatar World Cup

    Singer says she will not be playing at 2022 opening ceremony and would only perform in Qatar if it improves its human rights record

    Dua Lipa has denied reports she will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar.

    The chart-topping 27-year-old singer, born in London to parents from Kosovo, said she would only play in the country if it improves its record on human rights.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Ben Jennings on Qatar’s World Cup – cartoon

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iran is at war with its own people. Fifa won’t let that spoil their World Cup

    By supplying military drones to Russia, the mullahs’ regime is killing at home and away. The national team’s presence in Qatar is sickening and shameful

    Some governments, such as Syria and Myanmar, kill their own people. Some, such as Russia, kill people in other countries, as in Ukraine. Iran’s government is doing both, home and away.

    Now, pressed into action by this murderous regime, Iran’s national football team is about to play England, Wales and the US in the 2022 World Cup – as if nothing untoward were happening. This is not OK. In truth, it’s shameful.

    Continue reading…

  • Geneva: the base from where Qatar pursued its World Cup bid

    With the football World Cup starting soon, Swissinfo published a timely overview of Qatar’s sports washing efforts, led from its hub in Geneva,: Sportswashing the World Cup from Geneva, published on 10 November 2022

    Qatar chose Geneva to launch a massive public relations campaign in a bid to secure the World Cup and impose its narrative on sports. From there, the emirate could access FIFA, United Nation institutions, heads of state and diplomats…Perched just a few hundred metres above Geneva’s exclusive Nautique sailing club in the posh Cologny neighbourhood, the sprawling residence of the Qatari ambassador to the United Nations maintains a near-level view across Lake Geneva of the UN’s European headquarters.

    The acquisition of the 550-square-metre home set on over two hectares of land came a year before then-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter announced, to the surprise of many, that Qatar had won the bid for the 2022 football World Cup. Zurich-based.

    ..

    Advantages of autocracy: The United States and the United Kingdom, which had bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups together with Korea, Japan and Australia, had long been rumoured to be among the favourites. But intense lobbying by Qatar, FIFA’s arguable penchant for supporting authoritarian rule over democracy to get the job done, and hosting in a region where the sport could still grow, all ran in the emirate’s favour. Jérôme Valcke, FIFA’s former secretary-general, admitted in 2013 that “less democracy is sometimes better for organising a World Cup”. He has since been convicted in Switzerland for accepting bribes. Subsequently, investigations in the US and Switzerland culminated in 2015 with the revelation of a massive corruption scandal at FIFA, followed by arrests of high-ranking officials and an end to Blatter’s term.

    Despite winning the bid, Qatar’s reputation as a credible and transparent sports host was severely damaged. Its reputation only worsened as the country eagerly embarked on a quest to make the World Cup bid a reality. Reports by human rights groups of abuses and deaths of migrant workers building the infrastructure for the World Cup became a growing liability to the upbeat narrative the country was eager to project. 

    Even before the bid, Qatar, aware of its poor international image, looked to ramp up support among sport organisations, heads of state and diplomats. It chose Geneva as a location to lead a vast public relations campaign.

    This three-part investigation shows the lengths to which the emirate went to whitewash its reputation, and the role Geneva played in this marketing stunt.:

    More Qatar’s Swiss hub for foreign policy This content was published on Nov 10, 2022 In choosing Geneva as a hub to implement its foreign policy, Qatar gained access to NGOs, the UN and FIFA

    More ICSS: Sports at the service of state security  This content was published on Nov 10, 2022 From the start, the agenda of the International Centre for Sports Security was tainted by a lack of transparency and links to Qatar.

    More Promoting integrity without transparency This content was published on Nov 10, 2022 The Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) is another mitigated Qatari effort to boost its reputation.

    See also earlier: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/03/12/if-qatar-has-to-share-world-cup-2022-fifas-ethical-standards-must-apply/

    https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sportswashing-the-world-cup-from-geneva/48036450?utm_campaign=teaser-in-channel&utm_source=swissinfoch&utm_medium=display&utm_content=o

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • ‘There’s so many having major moral thoughts’: England fans conflicted over Qatar World Cup

    Concern over host country’s human rights record and stance on gay rights finds some boycotting tournament, while others plan to attend but ‘speak their mind’

    Andy Payne has supported England at every World Cup bar one for the past 40 years – but when it was announced that Qatar would host in 2022, he hesitated. “There’s so many people, including me, quite rightly having major moral thoughts on all this,” he says.

    In the end, he and his wife, Kirsty, decided to go – but his usual T-shirt and shorts will be adorned with a bright rainbow armband, while Kirsty will wear a large rainbow hat.

    Continue reading…

  • Stretching my legs – by just over an inch | Brief letters

    Leg-lengthening history | Northern aunts | In the slow lane | Qatar World Cup boycott | Country diary praise

    Your fascinating article on leg-lengthening (9 November) says the apparatus for this was first used in the UK in 1989. I had polio in 1957, which left me with one leg shorter than the other. It was stretched by just over an inch – with what sounds very like the apparatus you refer to – in the Nuffield orthopaedic centre in Oxford in 1963, when I was 10.
    Ian Lewis
    Hope Mansell, Herefordshire

    • When I was teaching in East Sussex, the school put on a production of James and the Giant Peach. “Who do we think should play the two aunts?” I asked staff in my Liverpool accent (Letters, 8 November). A puzzled (southern) teacher said: “There are no ants in James and the Giant Peach.”
    Sue Leyland
    Hunmanby, North Yorkshire

    Continue reading…