From the Beijing Winter Olympics to the Saudi-funded LIV golf tournament, 2022 has already offered ample evidence of the value of sportswashing to states with a global image problem. The forthcoming football World Cup in Qatar, now only five months away, will complete a hat-trick of events designed to augment the soft power of authoritarian regimes.
The decision to award World Cup hosting rights to a searingly hot Gulf state with a poor human rights record provoked widespread bafflement, suspicion and dismay. Last November, the US Department of Justice alleged that officials working for world football’s governing body, Fifa, had been bribed ahead of the decisive vote in 2010. But since then the global spotlight on Qatar has provided an opportunity for human rights campaigners. Lobbying on behalf of a vast migrant labour force, which has historically been subjected to brutally exploitative practices, has yielded tangible results. A minimum wage has been introduced, albeit at a very low rate. The abusive kafala system – which tied workers to a single employer – has been largely dismantled, and in most cases exit permits are no longer required to leave the country.
