Qatar is a rich Gulf nation known for both its huge oil reserves and its flagrant human rights abuses. It is a dictatorship in which women have to seek permission from their male guardians to marry or work in many government jobs, in which being gay is criminalised and can result in a prison sentence, in which migrant workers are treated appallingly and in which journalists have been imprisoned for reporting critically on domestic politics. Yet all of this will inevitably be minimised as the world’s eyes fall on Qatar for the start of the 2022 World Cup next month.
Qatar’s leaders know this and this is why they have paid through the nose – estimates put it at $220bn (£190bn), by far the most expensive World Cup of all time – to host the competition, including lavishing money on efforts to lobby British politicians, as we report today. And so football teams, international supporters, the world’s media and foreign dignitaries will duly head to Qatar for an international sporting tournament that has serious environmental implications and will, some predict, leave a huge carbon footprint. At a conservative estimate, at least 6,500 migrant workers have lost their lives n Qatar since it was awarded the World Cup in 2011.
