The second game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a 6-2 win for England over Iran on Monday, was a particularly politically-charged one. To protest racial injustice, England took a knee, and Iran’s players refused to sing their national anthem at kick-off. Their fans booed the anthem and also made their voices heard throughout, all in support of the anti-government protests that have gripped Iran since September.
All this took place in the background of England — and five other European countries — withdrawing their decision to make their captains wear ‘OneLove’ rainbow armbands to protest host country Qatar’s criminalisation of homosexuality. The U-turn came from a fear of “sporting sanctions” like their captain being given a yellow card or being asked to go off the field of play.
Qatar, a desert peninsula with a population of about 3 million people, will host over a million football fans over the next month. After winning their bid to host in 2010 – one which is mired in corruption and bribery charges and led to the resignation of then FIFA president Sepp Blatter – they have constructed seven new stadiums to be able to host the events, with reports of the exploitation of migrant workers who make up a majority of Qatar’s population.
According to The Guardian, at least 6,500 migrant workers lost their lives in the country between 2010 and 2021, coming from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India. An Indian Express investigation revealed the stories of nine Indian families who lost a loved one in projects linked to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. There are likely countless, faceless, nameless more. Since Qatar won the right to host the event, there has been scrutiny of the exploitative treatment of migrant workers in the entire Gulf region, as well as the treatment of women, and the persecution of members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Amid all this, European countries decided to make their voices heard with the minimal gesture of the rainbow armband, one that was so tame in the first place, as if designed to provoke as subdued a reaction as possible. These same teams have also hosted migrant workers at their training sessions but failed to put sufficient pressure on FIFA to ensure compensation packages for the workers whose blood and sweat created this spectacle.
Its subsequent withdrawal, in the face of pushback from FIFA, pointed to how much they really cared about the bigger picture in Qatar. An empty, non-confrontational gesture could have been made a lot more meaningful if England captain Harry Kane had actually taken a yellow card from a FIFA-sanctioned referee for standing up for LGBTQ+ rights. The failure to do so points to the fact that to them, image matters, but not their message, at least not at the cost of the slightest competitive advantage.
This is why projects of such nature, dubbed “sportswashing”, work. The minute the ball kicks off, the focus shifts to the action on the pitch, and all else is forgotten. There are games to be seen, plays to be analysed, goals to be watched and rewatched, social media debates to be had, murals to be painted, chants to be sung. There is a World Cup to be won. The three biggest protagonists of the three favourites at the event are all employees of the Qatari regime that owns the French club Paris Saint-Germain. Kylian Mbappe and France are the defending champions, Neymar Jr. and Brazil are the favourites of the head, and Lionel Messi and Argentina are favourites of the heart — set to be the tournament’s most dominant storyline.
In red-hot form for both club and country, Messi has a final opportunity to pick up the title that has eluded his career, and it comes at the perfect time. This World Cup will be the first since 1978 without the presence of Diego Maradona – not as a talented global phenomenon, a drugged-up star of controversy, a tense and nervy coach, a chest-thumping supporter, or an irreverent pundit. Messi could have his crowning moment to replace his compatriot as the sport’s most iconic global figure, and such is the deep affection that his talent draws from supporters around the world, that even the most ardent critic of Qatar will not be able to deny the joy that could be felt to see him lift that famous gold trophy.
This is exactly why sportswashing can be so insidiously effective – despite knowing all the human rights abuses linked with it, nobody will be able to take their eyes off it. The absurdity of the occasion is unlikely to be enough to take the shine off the trophy. The blood spilt by the world’s poorest is unlikely to affect the glory felt by the world’s richest who made this tournament a reality. And clearly, the prospect of winning that trophy is not enough for teams to stand by their so-called convictions.
namit.kumar@expressindia.com
