When I was younger, I had fond memories from my childhood during the summer of going to see my brothers and watching the world cup together with them. Enjoying the summer heat and absorbing the positive vibes that came from the tournament. Two months of just good times and zero problems. This year I am unable to enjoy the world cup in the same way.

As this time it is going to be played during the winter in Qatar heavily criticised by fans, former footballers and football advocates concerning the morality/ethics of the work done and preparations for the world cup by the hosting country. Also deciding to play the tournament mid-season has caused problems with the player being overplayed in the regular season matches.

This brings up the question, is it about football or is it that Fifa just wants to make more money?

Since Qatar won the rights of hosting the world cup back in 2010, they’ve chosen  to construct their own new stadiums specifically for the 2022 world cup. Overshadowing their great accomplishments of constructing these stadiums have been the scandals of the poor conditions and safety measurements the builders were forced to work in which mostly consisted of immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. According to The Guardian it’s been reported that around 6.750 workers from the countries stated before have died since the start of the construction. Which makes me think about if it’s right to play in these stadiums in a country with such bad human rights considering the victims’ families who grieve the loss of a relative or family member. 

Another reason the World Cup shouldn’t be played now is that the players are being overplayed, exposing them to an increased risk of getting injured. Over the past two seasons the Fifa organisation has overloaded the season with club and national team fixtures. Creating occasions where teams need to play 2-3 times a week in order to finish the season in time. Even more so now that they decided to play the world cup over November and December which are already football’s most hectic months. The damage this has caused can be seen in the total injuries that occur in a season. In the 2018/19 season it was recorded that there were 764 injuries to players in the premier league compared to in the 2021/22 season the number of injuries rose to 1.231 just in the premier league. 

I demand that the 2022 world cup should be boycotted by both fans and players in respect for the victims of the accidents during the construction of the stadiums. Don’t buy the match tickets, don’t fly to Qatar and don’t watch the games on your TVs at home. Stand up against Qatar and Fifa’s corruption.