Qatar 2022: ‘World Cup controversies take some excitement away’ – Gabby Logan

I’ve been going to World Cups as a journalist since France 1998, and the build-up to this one is the most unusual I’ve ever experienced.

That’s not the case this time. We are only days away from the first game but the background behind Qatar hosting this World Cup and the controversies surrounding the regime there take some of that excitement away, and make me feel uncomfortable about the whole occasion.

I am going there as a broadcaster, and where the World Cup is held is not something any of us can influence. There was consternation about the last hosts, Russia in 2018, too.

But as my colleague Gary Lineker has already said, the BBC will be in Qatar reporting, not supporting the regime there and elements of what they stand for.

Clearly Qatar wants the world to look at it, because it asked to host this World Cup and doing so is a marker of its position on the world stage, but surely with that honour comes a responsibility – and there are fundamental human rights issues there that we know could be improved.

We will still get excited about the football when it starts, but what we can also do during the next five weeks is shine a light on Qatar and its stance on issues like same-sex relationships, women’s rights and the treatment of migrant workers.

When you expose those situations, as so many great journalists and human rights groups have done in the build-up to this tournament, then you hope you draw people’s attention to what is happening and what needs to change, in parts of the world they might not ordinarily think about.

We need conversations now for change to happen

The success of World Cups is usually determined by how much entertainment they provide – things like the TV spectacle, and what the facilities for fans were like.

This time, we should remember the treatment of the migrant workers involved in the vast construction project for this tournament – including the gleaming new stadiums that will be seen around the world – and instead judge Qatar on whether some of the issues I have mentioned do change and get better in the future.

We certainly won’t know that while this World Cup is going on. It is likely to be a few years until we find out if basic human rights and workers’ rights improve in Qatar, and if all people there have the ability to express themselves and live freely in their own country.

Those are the aspirations I’d have for the legacy of this World Cup, and I think most people would see them as being positive things to aim for.

For that legacy to happen, though, we need to have collaborative conversations about these topics while the tournament is going on; while the world is watching.

You cannot just ignore them. That’s why I found Fifa’s letter earlier this month, telling the 32 teams taking part to “now focus on the football”, an especially difficult statement to swallow.

People must have the right to express their opinion

To those who would say – as Fifa appears to be doing – that everyone should just respect Qatar’s rules and regulations when they are there, I would respond that is not a helpful or productive way of dealing with this situation.

Instead, the most important thing that can happen while this World Cup is taking place is that people have the right to express their opinion.

If, for example, while he is competing in Qatar, a player wants to stand up and say that he is really against the idea that people from the LGBTQ+ community cannot freely live the life they want to in this country, then it is his right to say that.

Equally, it is not just the job of the players to be speaking out. If some of them do just want to focus on the football, then we have to respect that too.

There will be 832 players at this World Cup and the idea that all of them are going to address the discrepancies of human rights in Qatar is fanciful.

But if someone does want to speak, they should be allowed to – whoever they are.

We should question where events are held

I’ve joined a WhatsApp group with other women who are working at the World Cup across different stations, not just the BBC.

Some of them already work at BeIN Sports, which is based in Qatar, and they have been talking about the fact they feel very safe, as well as giving advice about what potentially we should wear over there.

When you go to an Arabic country there are certain dress codes to think about for men too, and the alcohol laws there will affect everyone, but I hope female fans who are travelling to watch the tournament feel they can behave how they want to.

I think we will only find out in the first few days of the World Cup what the fans’ experience will be like in Qatar, and also what the crowds will be like.

I was disappointed when I came to Doha in 2019 to work on the World Athletics Championships and the Khalifa International Stadium was empty, or nearly empty, for a lot of the big events.

That meant athletes who had worked their whole lives to try to break world records and win gold medals at one of the biggest events in their sport were doing it in front of thousands of empty seats.

It came off the back of London hosting the same event in 2017, when every session was pretty much sold out, so the contrast was stark and I didn’t feel we should ignore that.

Speaking out about it did not go down well with the sport’s governing body, or its president Seb Coe, but I would do it again around any issues that arise at this World Cup.

Some fans might be happy to watch from afar wherever these big events take place without giving it too much thought but, when we look back, I think this period of history will throw up lots of questions about how and where they happen in the future.

The consequences of choosing certain hosts

The official switch to make Qatar 2022 a winter World Cup came in February 2015 – more than four years after they won their bid to host it.

Since then, people have talked about how troubled they are by the timing of this tournament, as well as the environmental impact of building lots of new stadiums, hotels and the rest of the infrastructure that was needed.

That hasn’t stopped this World Cup from happening now, of course, but it should hopefully make us think more about the merits of spreading these finals and other major sporting events around the world and continuously making them bigger and bigger.

As I’ve said for a while now, the sustainability of these events is something else that needs to be addressed, and everyone needs to think a little harder about all the consequences of choosing certain hosts. – bbc.com

Gabby Logan was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.