POLITICS AT PLAY
Alexandre Gruffat (Year 12) considers the highs and lows of last year’s World Cup, during which football found itself at the centre of more than one political controversy
A s Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri pitched the ball into Portugal’s goal, sealing his team’s place in the semi-finals, you could almost hear the famous words of Peter Drury, speaking in 2010: ‘Goal for South Africa. Goal for all Africa.’ Sofiane Boufal danced on the pitch with his mother, celebrating the history that he and his teammates had just made: Morocco was now the first African nation to reach the semi-final stages of Sofiane Boufal danced on the pitch with his mother, celebrating the history that he and his teammates had just made a World Cup. In the history of the event, up until this moment, 85 of the 88 teams reaching the semi-finals had been from Europe or South America. Morocco had finally broken the deadlock. Magic System’s words hit home as fans in Abu Dhabi sang ‘Magic in the Air’. The Moroccan flag flew high in skies from Ivory Coast to Palestine, whilst high-profile figures including the prime minister of Libya and the leaders of the UAE praised the Moroccan effort. Even ordinary Algerians, for whom politics has no role in football, celebrated their neighbour’s victory. The Algeri- an government, on the other hand, took a different stance: their decision not to acknowledge Morocco’s victory on national TV showed how relations remain sour. Football and politics are inseparable. Longstanding his- torical issues include match-fixing and bribery, and since the turn of the 21st century, there has been in addition a proliferation of events leading to controversy. In 2002, for example, the decision to allow Japan and Korea to jointly host the 2002 tournament during monsoon sea-
son was widely questioned. Other issues included fans having to traverse the Korea Strait as they travelled from one stadium to another, and fans from Europe having to watch matches in the morning, as they were played in the evening. Furthermore, when the host countries were announced, Japan had yet to qualify for the World Cup, leading to speculation as to whether it had paid to co-host the tournament. The parallels with the 2022 World Cup are clear. In addition FIFA and Qatar have had to wrestle with issues such as the treatment of migrant workers and questions of freedom of expression. With 90% of its labour force coming from overseas, Qatar has the highest ratio of migrant workers to citizens in the world, the majority of them hailing from India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Amnesty International first shed light on the exploitation of migrant workers in 2013, and has since worked alongside groups like the ILO (International Labour Organisation) to enact reforms. But an asymmetry is clear: organisations have strived to enact and enforce regulation whereas Qatar has seemed reluctant to intro-
of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt was put on hold, as maritime and airspace borders reo- pened. In one TikTok, American, Iranian and Saudi fans could be seen dancing together, and following the Saudi team’s triumph over Argentina, the Saudi flag was project- ed onto Qatari high-rises – all despite the considerable geopolitical tensions. The event was one of opportunity: fans were able to make the most out of closely located stadiums, with some attending more than 40 games, and
ployees. Complaints are met with threats of preventing the individual from ever leaving the country; contracts outlin- ing lower pay are signed in foreign languages; recruitment fees, meant to be paid by the employer, are imposed on the worker instead, costing individuals as much as US$4300, and leaving them with onerous debt. The second issue is freedom of expression. Gianni Infanti- no, president of FIFA, assured fans of many things before the ball got rolling, declaring that ‘everyone is welcome’ and that ‘politics should stay out of foot-
for two English fans a moment of serendipitous good fortune was enjoyed when they were invited back to a sheikh’s son’s palace whilst on the search for beer. It was also a tournament of landmarks: Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to ref- eree a men’s World Cup match, despite Qatar’s refusal to sup- port women’s rights; Morocco undertook a journey which proved inspirational for Africa
ball’. Yet just hours before England were scheduled to play Iran, FIFA warned the Three Lions that wear- ing the ‘OneLove’ armband would be yellow-carded. In addition, US journalist Grant Wahl was detained for wear- ing a T-shirt featuring a rain- bow, and a protestor waving the peace flag and wearing a
The issue of human rights in the peninsula has undoubtedly been spot-lit, but whether there will be reform in the wake of the World Cup remains to be seen
duce and uphold reform. Although the kafala system, whereby a worker is sponsored by an employer, has in theory been abolished by Qatar, a lack of enforcement by Qatari officials means that workers still endure its effects. As the state traditionally provided employers with the means to recruit a worker, finance their travel and provide housing, those same employers were also given control of the workers’ legal status, determining when they could change jobs or leave the coun- try. Restriction, coercion and deception are all interlinked, and result from the power imbalance between employers and em-
and the Middle East; we witnessed the greatest final of all time, where one of the most controversial topics (who is football’s GOAT, or ‘greatest of all time’) was put to rest; and a record 172 goals were scored. It would be as wrong to focus solely on the flaws of the tournament as it would be to appreciate only the tourna- ment’s milestones, and so let us do both, acknowledging the tournament’s shortcomings, whilst appreciating the chance it gave us to witness football being played in its purest form and experiencing all that comes with it – emo- tion, history and humanity. ◎
T-shirt declaring ‘Save Ukraine’ and ‘Respect for Iranian Woman’ lost his permit to stay in Qatar. As a result, the issue of human rights in the peninsula has undoubtedly been spot-lit, but whether there will be reform in the wake of the World Cup remains to be seen. However, the positives cannot be overlooked. The World Cup was a time to brush off diplomatic tensions. In the words of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken: ‘One of the most powerful things about football, about soccer, is its potential to bring the world together.’ The 2017 boycott
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