Fifa president Gianni Infantino, left, and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani shake hands before the World Cup draw in Doha. Photo / AP
The 2022 men’s football World Cup will be hosted in a desert country that has never qualified for the tournament on its own merit.
Reports suggest that during the process of preparing for this tournament, thousands of migrant workers lost their lives toiling away under harsh unforgiving conditions.
“The thought of around [over] 6,000 migrant workers dying in the last 12 years ... is just absolutely staggering,” NZ Herald sports reporter Michael Burgess tells The Front Page podcast.
“Comparisons have been made to the London Olympics where one person died during the construction of various facilities. Even during the Brazil World Cup, you had something like 10 or 11 deaths over the construction period. [Deaths] do happen, but what you to 6000, you just can’t comprehend it.”
On top of this, there are also concerns about the safety of both fans and players in a country where alcohol remains illegal and homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment or even death in some circumstances.
“Fifa has had a lot of questions on this, but they’ve maintained a message that everyone’s welcome.”
Despite this, the criticism has continued to pour in with many questioning how Qatar fits into the image of togetherness, equality and unity Fifa likes to project in its marketing material.
In fact, the organisation even recruited former footballer David Beckham to appear in an advertising campaign showing how wonderful the country is.
“He has sold his soul in that regard,” says Burgess.
“What makes it worse is that he was the face of the World Cup bid that England launched when they tried to get the 2018 World Cup that went to Russia. That was announced the same day Qatar was being awarded this World Cup. Beckham was interviewed at the time and he said it was disgusting that Qatar had been awarded the World Cup. So I guess money changes everything.”
So how did Fifa get this so wrong? How did the World Cup end up in Qatar in the first place? Has anything been learnt from this experience? And what does this mean for future editions of the biggest spectacle in global sports?
Listen to today’s episode of The Front Page podcast for a dissection of the most controversial world cup of all time.
Qualification is massive for the sport and also comes with huge financial rewards.