Football’s governing body Fifa has tried to keep politics out of the World Cup – but there has never been a more political tournament, reports Michael Safi in Doha.
The opening week of the World Cup began in bizarre fashion: a press conference with Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, accusing critics of the tournament of hypocrisy and claiming his own experience gave him a window into that of others: ‘Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker.’
It came after an earlier plea from Fifa to keep politics out of the tournament but it has been a week dominated by off-pitch issues and protests. Michael Safi has been in Doha and hears how fans are experiencing the first World Cup in the Middle East. For sportswriters Sean Ingle and Louise Taylor, it is a tournament like no other and despite the entreaties from the authorities to focus on the football, protests have made all the headlines. There was the Iranian national team who refused to sing their national anthem in protest at the bloody repression across their country, and then Germany whose hands-over-mouth gesture clearly referred to Fifa’s denial of their right to wear pro-LGBT armbands.
Qatar is the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, but the small nation has come under intense pressure for its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws.
The country’s human rights record has led to calls for teams and officials to boycott the 20th November-18th December tournament.
This ongoing back-and-forth, however, has not eclipsed the crux of the issue for many. FIFA itself adopted the U.N.’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2016, which codifies its responsibility to uphold human rights. The criticisms towards both Qatar and the governing body of football have resulted in various protests, both on the pitch and off.
On Nov. 23, Germany players covered their mouths with their hands during a team photo before their World Cup opener, a match against Japan at Khalifa International Stadium. “It was a sign, a message that we wanted to send out. We wanted to convey the message that FIFA is silencing us,” said head coach Hansi Flick.
The team’s action came days after FIFA banned players from wearing rainbow armbands in Qatar. The bands are a component of the OneLove campaign, which was started by the Dutch Football Association to campaign against all forms of discrimination while emphasising unity and a shared love for football amongst fans. The band has no directly worded mention of LGBTQ advocacy, but is covered with an array of colors — like a rainbow — and a heart, akin to symbols associated with LGBTQ rights.
In Qatar, many teams sought to wear the band as a message of solidarity with the LGBTQ community, while playing in a country that criminalises same-sex relationships. However, FIFA clamped down on it, citing the organisation’s regulation on equipment such as armbands: “No item (of playing kit or other clothing or equipment or otherwise) may be worn or used in any controlled area if FIFA considers that it is dangerous, offensive or indecent, includes political, religious, or personal slogans, statements, or images, or otherwise does not comply in full with the laws of the game.” This apparently includes OneLove bands.
FIFA asked team captains to instead opt for bands created as a part of its own “social campaign”. These bands feature slogans such as “Football unites the world”, “SaveThePlanet,” and “NoDiscrimination”.
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2022/nov/25/inside-qatar-2022-the-world-cup-of-politics-and-protest-podcast
https://mashable.com/article/fifa-world-cup-2022-protests-qatar
