After four years of waiting, the 2022 Qatar World Cup began on the 20th of November in Doha, Qatar. Viewers worldwide cheered as Enner Valencia scored the first goal of the competition. Since then, the world has been stunned at Saudi Arabia’s miraculous win over Argentina, Germany’s disastrous loss against Japan, and Spain’s 7:0 victory over Costa Rica.

The world seems to have forgotten about the stark controversies surrounding this world cup. For years Qatar has been accused of poor treatment of foreign workers. Qatar spent over $220 billion for this world cup alone, more than the previous eight world cups combined. Qatar built seven new stadiums, hotels, airports, and even three subway lines. For the construction, Qatar hired thousands of foreign workers for construction mainly from countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. 

The Guardian’s investigation led to the conclusion that at least 6700 foreign workers have died in the construction process, causing an uproar worldwide. The numbers differed from the Qatari government’s reports of 37 worker casualties. In the end, the Qatari government admitted using illegal labor while constructing the infrastructures for the world cup. 

French football legend Eric Cantona strongly condemned the world cup, claiming that the world cup “should never have gone to Qatar.” The Danish football team showed their protest by having Denmark’s and Hummel’s logos “toned down” on their jerseys, with the manufacturer Hummel announcing, “We don’t wish to be visible during a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives.” 

Qatar’s labor issues were controversial for years, but everyone seemed to forget about the matter after the games started. The world should be reminded of Qatar’s mistreatment of the workers and strongly condemn such actions lest it happens again in another competition.

이세준 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

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