This year’s FIFA men’s World Cup has cast a media spotlight on Qatar’s human rights record. The tournament also offered an opportunity to draw attention to the current protests in Iran surrounding the mistreatment of women.
Qatar’s imbalance in rights and treatment of women in particular has been called out. Discrimination against women has long been enshrined in Qatari law, including unclear rules on male guardianship. This means Qatari women face inequities and lack of access to basic freedoms.
Although Iran was not a host country, the World Cup has been an opportunity for people to protest the treatment of women in Iran following the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. Iranian footballer Amir Reza Nasr Azadani was this month sentenced to death for joining in protests against the country’s clerical establishment.
