Rabat – When FIFA-President Gianni Infantino defended host country Qatar on the eve of the 2022 World Cup, many in the Western press did not seem to appreciate his comments. CNN described Infantino’s remarks as an “explosive tirade,” Yahoo News called it “crass and infuriating,” while The Guardian saw it as a “bizarre attack on critics.”
Infantino’s remarks in defense of the World Cup’s first host country from the MENA region lamented the flurry of criticism Qatar had received on the sidelines of the world’s premier sporting event.
Having lived in Qatar for most of the year, the FIFA executive called some critics “profoundly unjust” and called out the “hypocrisy” of former colonial empires dictating their (often very recently gained) moral standards on the Gulf nation.
Let’s be clear first. Qatar is definitely not a model democracy. It is also definitely not a haven for feminists or the LGBTQ community and has an atrocious record on the treatment (and expulsion) of foreign laborers. Additionally, Qatar’s candidacy and FIFA’s decision-making process are indeed highly controversial.
Uniquely politicized
Yet, the flurry of negative news coverage on these issues, blended with sports-related news, has been unique in World Cup history. Coverage of the event is commonly depoliticized in nature and takes a celebrative tone that emphasizes the coming together of nations and cultures to participate in one of the world’s most beloved sports.
Let’s not forget that many of the issues Qatar is being criticized for are sins many countries have shared until painfully recent times.
As an example, up until 2012, former US President Barack Obama publicly opposed gay marriage while in the same year the country enacted 114 bills and adopted 92 resolutions targeting migrants and refugees.
Former World Cup host Japan has draconian policies that criminalize asylum seekers that were very much in effect when they hosted the competition. Germany was the EU’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in 2008 when they hosted the tournament, while Brazil was actively cutting down the Amazon rainforest when it hosted the World Cup in 2014.
I’m not arguing that the football festivities in these countries should have faced a torrent of criticism; the focus on unity, positivity and multiculturalism was exactly the right tone to compliment such an event.
Only the last two tournaments, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, became overtly political in the eyes of reporters at the tournament.
The irony of current reporting on Qatar is that none of the issues being reported on are recent. They have all been there for decades and reporters have been free to fly to Qatar and highlight these issues to their heart’s content.
Infantino, himself an elitist European in charge of one of the world’s most corrupt and exploitative sports organizations, instead pointed to Western imperialism and colonialism.
“What we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons,” he told the gathered press on Friday.
Gracious hosts, polite guests
As a non-Muslim person living in a Muslim country for the past four years, I can relate to the intercultural clash that seems to be driving coverage on Qatar.
I was born in the Netherlands, a country that legalized gay marriage in 2001, and decriminalized same-sex relations back in 1811. I come from a place where you can buy alcohol at any time, religion has little impact on public policy, where Moroccan hashish can be bought in legal shops, sex work is legally regulated, and feminism became a part of public debate in the 1880s.
I come from one of the most progressive places on earth, and as such my personal values are often not shared by the majority of people in the country where I now live. Yet here I have also learned a distinctly non-western value: that of being a gracious host, and a polite guest.
Hospitality is such a core value among many Arab and African communities that people would rather give you their last food than have their guests go hungry, or even ration the food. Being given gifts and fed generously are commonplace when being welcomed as guests, with no expectation of anything in return, except for basic respect and a cordial chat.
As someone coming from a country where it is normal to send your guests home because “it’s time for dinner,” such values were as foreign to me, as many of the West’s views are to Qataris.
While many reporters in Qatar are conscious of their responsibility to put a spotlight on what they see as the country’s flaws, I would argue that it is similarly important to recognize the host country’s values and show a modicum of respect for views you don’t believe in, even if your goal is to change those views.
A time and a place
I believe that it is an important duty of a global citizen to be critical, voice opinions and spark debate on important issues, especially if it involves vulnerable or marginalized communities, as many of my opinion pieces and articles at Morocco World News will attest. Yet, there is a time and a place for such discussions.
The irony of the flurry of critique towards Qatar is that much of it has little to do with finding structural solutions to support local queer people, women, or migrants. As soon as the tournament is over, much of the focus on the peninsular nation will again be resigned to NGOs, and ignored by Western governments.
Over the past months Qatar has been a close partner to the West, especially in ensuring Europe has sufficient gas for the winter amid its geopolitical stand-off with Russia. At the end of August the UK celebrated its new trade deal with Qatar, while France and Germany signed similar agreements this spring.
While reporters from these countries have been harsh on Qatar, their governments have worked hard to curry favor with the Gulf nation.
While I disagree with Qatar’s conservative laws, especially its morality laws that are neither fair nor enforceable, I believe that the current torrent of critique will do little but entrench conservative viewpoints in this part of the world.
Effective critique
The feeling that the West is “imposing” its values on other parts of the world is one of the key arguments used by local conservatives to oppose such efforts.
Still, reporters could make progress towards an improved human rights record in this part of the world through their journalism.
Instead of spending two weeks criticizing Qatar’s government, they could urge their own democratic governments to do more for this region.
FIFA executive Gianni Infantino made similar remarks during his perceived “tirade” on Friday. “We need to invest in education, to give them a better future, to give them hope,” he said, before adding that “we should all educate ourselves.”
Western reporters, as part of their democratic systems, have the power to push for reforms, structural change and government action, but not from a foreign government.
Rabat – When FIFA-President Gianni Infantino defended host country Qatar on the eve of the 2022 World Cup, many in the Western press did not seem to appreciate his comments. CNN described Infantino’s remarks as an “explosive tirade,” Yahoo News called it “crass and infuriating,” while The Guardian saw it as a “bizarre attack on critics.”
Infantino’s remarks in defense of the World Cup’s first host country from the MENA region lamented the flurry of criticism Qatar had received on the sidelines of the world’s premier sporting event.
Having lived in Qatar for most of the year, the FIFA executive called some critics “profoundly unjust” and called out the “hypocrisy” of former colonial empires dictating their (often very recently gained) moral standards on the Gulf nation.
Let’s be clear first. Qatar is definitely not a model democracy. It is also definitely not a haven for feminists or the LGBTQ community and has an atrocious record on the treatment (and expulsion) of foreign laborers. Additionally, Qatar’s candidacy and FIFA’s decision-making process are indeed highly controversial.
Uniquely politicized
Yet, the flurry of negative news coverage on these issues, blended with sports-related news, has been unique in World Cup history. Coverage of the event is commonly depoliticized in nature and takes a celebrative tone that emphasizes the coming together of nations and cultures to participate in one of the world’s most beloved sports.
Let’s not forget that many of the issues Qatar is being criticized for are sins many countries have shared until painfully recent times.
As an example, up until 2012, former US President Barack Obama publicly opposed gay marriage while in the same year the country enacted 114 bills and adopted 92 resolutions targeting migrants and refugees.
Former World Cup host Japan has draconian policies that criminalize asylum seekers that were very much in effect when they hosted the competition. Germany was the EU’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in 2008 when they hosted the tournament, while Brazil was actively cutting down the Amazon rainforest when it hosted the World Cup in 2014.
I’m not arguing that the football festivities in these countries should have faced a torrent of criticism; the focus on unity, positivity and multiculturalism was exactly the right tone to compliment such an event.
Only the last two tournaments, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, became overtly political in the eyes of reporters at the tournament.
The irony of current reporting on Qatar is that none of the issues being reported on are recent. They have all been there for decades and reporters have been free to fly to Qatar and highlight these issues to their heart’s content.
Infantino, himself an elitist European in charge of one of the world’s most corrupt and exploitative sports organizations, instead pointed to Western imperialism and colonialism.
“What we Europeans have been doing for the last 3,000 years, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons,” he told the gathered press on Friday.
Gracious hosts, polite guests
As a non-Muslim person living in a Muslim country for the past four years, I can relate to the intercultural clash that seems to be driving coverage on Qatar.
I was born in the Netherlands, a country that legalized gay marriage in 2001, and decriminalized same-sex relations back in 1811. I come from a place where you can buy alcohol at any time, religion has little impact on public policy, where Moroccan hashish can be bought in legal shops, sex work is legally regulated, and feminism became a part of public debate in the 1880s.
I come from one of the most progressive places on earth, and as such my personal values are often not shared by the majority of people in the country where I now live. Yet here I have also learned a distinctly non-western value: that of being a gracious host, and a polite guest.
Hospitality is such a core value among many Arab and African communities that people would rather give you their last food than have their guests go hungry, or even ration the food. Being given gifts and fed generously are commonplace when being welcomed as guests, with no expectation of anything in return, except for basic respect and a cordial chat.
As someone coming from a country where it is normal to send your guests home because “it’s time for dinner,” such values were as foreign to me, as many of the West’s views are to Qataris.
While many reporters in Qatar are conscious of their responsibility to put a spotlight on what they see as the country’s flaws, I would argue that it is similarly important to recognize the host country’s values and show a modicum of respect for views you don’t believe in, even if your goal is to change those views.
A time and a place
I believe that it is an important duty of a global citizen to be critical, voice opinions and spark debate on important issues, especially if it involves vulnerable or marginalized communities, as many of my opinion pieces and articles at Morocco World News will attest. Yet, there is a time and a place for such discussions.
The irony of the flurry of critique towards Qatar is that much of it has little to do with finding structural solutions to support local queer people, women, or migrants. As soon as the tournament is over, much of the focus on the peninsular nation will again be resigned to NGOs, and ignored by Western governments.
Over the past months Qatar has been a close partner to the West, especially in ensuring Europe has sufficient gas for the winter amid its geopolitical stand-off with Russia. At the end of August the UK celebrated its new trade deal with Qatar, while France and Germany signed similar agreements this spring.
While reporters from these countries have been harsh on Qatar, their governments have worked hard to curry favor with the Gulf nation.
While I disagree with Qatar’s conservative laws, especially its morality laws that are neither fair nor enforceable, I believe that the current torrent of critique will do little but entrench conservative viewpoints in this part of the world.
Effective critique
The feeling that the West is “imposing” its values on other parts of the world is one of the key arguments used by local conservatives to oppose such efforts.
Still, reporters could make progress towards an improved human rights record in this part of the world through their journalism.
Instead of spending two weeks criticizing Qatar’s government, they could urge their own democratic governments to do more for this region.
FIFA executive Gianni Infantino made similar remarks during his perceived “tirade” on Friday. “We need to invest in education, to give them a better future, to give them hope,” he said, before adding that “we should all educate ourselves.”
Western reporters, as part of their democratic systems, have the power to push for reforms, structural change and government action, but not from a foreign government.
Instead they could call for more funding for what Europe considers its “periphery,” they could point to Europe’s own horrific human rights record on its borders, the noticeable difference in treatment of Caucasion Ukrainian refugees and those with different skin tones, or the growing inequality and economic hardship that is fueling far-right extremism and hate-crimes on the continent.
If Western reporters want to work towards a world of growing tolerance, equality and universal rights, they should recognize that they have the power to influence the world’s most powerful actors: their own governments.
While the naming and shaming of atrocious behavior worldwide is an important part of our historical record, it is not the path towards transforming conservative communities.
Leading by example
As progressive as my own country has been on many of the social protections that marginalized communities around the world desire, it still has plenty to criticize.
My country has had a worrying growth in Islamophobic and xenophobic populism over the past two decades. My country is responsible for centuries of colonialism and was one of the main actors in the colonial slave trade.
One of my country’s largest companies has caused one of the longest and most destructive environmental disasters in human history in Nigeria, our tax service has profiled and targeted ethnic minorities at a vast scale, and furthermore, my home country has been a prominent relative driver of global climate change.
As a journalist and voter in my country, I have (some) power to influence these things.
The West can make a positive change around the world. If the West can build a proven record on structural international reforms that lift people out of poverty, ensure their global freedom of movement, and show the merits of a secular government that protects people of all religions and belief systems, then others will follow such examples.
Instead people around the world have seen Western institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF advise their governments to cut subsidies and slash spending amid economic hardship.
While lecturing on human rights, Western governments have signed billion-dollar trade agreements that export wealth to the global North while concluding security partnerships intended to keep non-Westerners away from US and EU borders.
If Western reporters want to make a positive change in the world, the path is obvious.
Push your own democratic governments to make a positive change in the world by erasing the structural post-colonial benefits it still retains over much of the rest of the world. Highlight the thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean to promote a compassionate approach to migration. Push for fair economics, at home and abroad.
What won’t work, is spending two weeks in Qatar feeling morally superior by highlighting Qatar’s lingering issues that continue to affect local vulnerable communities.
Let’s enjoy the football together, and then work together to make this a fairer world for all of us, through healthy debate, structural reforms, introspection and respect for diverging opinions and cultural differences that can only be overcome through respectful and positive cooperation.