Sean Wallace: Fifa have turned me into a hypocrite and I resent them for it

By Sean Wallace

November 9 2022, 11:45 am

The official Fifa World Cup Countdown Clock on Doha's corniche, overlooking the skyline of Doha, Qatar.

Fifa have turned me into a hypocrite about the upcoming World Cup in Qatar and I resent them for it as, like billions of football fans across the globe, I am confronted with a moral dilemma ahead of the tournament.

It is a dilemma I know, to my shame, I will lose.

My moral compass tells me I should boycott watching the World Cup as a statement against Qatar’s human rights record and shocking stance on LGBTQ+ rights.

It is screaming that I should ignore the tournament in protest at Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers.

Preparations for Fifa 2022 are completed in Qatar, Doha.

However, I have a young son who is obsessed with football and has been counting down to the World Cup for months.

I have told the wee man about Qatar’s human rights record, the migrant worker deaths and how it is illegal to be homosexual in the Gulf State.

He both understands the situation, and condemns it.

Kids have a greater understanding of world issues than they are often given credit for. They are switched on.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino and hosts Idris Elba and Reshmin Chowdhury during the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 Draw at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, Doha.

I won’t deprive my son from watching the World Cup – but I refuse to park my morality

However, I’m not going to deprive my son from watching the World Cup.

And he wants to watch it with me, his dad, so that we can both enjoy what should be a glorious celebration of football.

So, like a hypocrite, I will watch the television coverage with my son, because I’m not going to take away the joy of watching the World Cup from him.

However, I refuse to park my morality and politics for the duration of the tournament as Fifa have requested.

I’ll watch the World Cup, but do so with a seething anger that it is being held in Qatar and with the knowledge that by watching it I am a hypocrite.”

Fifa president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura recently called for all 32 nations competing at the World Cup to “focus on football”.

In a recent letter to each of the competing nations they pleaded: “Please do not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”

Fifa asking us to look the other way when games are being played at stadiums built at the cost of thousands of lives of migrant workers is despicable.

👋 @FIFAcom, focusing on football isn't an option until you commit to compensate migrant workers. #PayUpFifa pic.twitter.com/Ap90wz7QIU

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) November 4, 2022

Amnesty International reported 15,021 migrant worker deaths between 2010 and 2019 in the construction of stadia and infrastructure for the World Cup.

It is a starkly different figure to the three work-related and 34 non-work-related deaths reported by Qatari authorities.

Ten European footballing nations, including England and Wales, recently demanded Fifa deliver on promises for a compensation fund for migrant workers and their families which remains unfulfilled.

The Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar. Qatar has built eight stadiums for the World Cup and created an entire new city of Lusail where the final will be held.

This demand was signed by the head of the governing bodies of Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland and Wales.

According to a pre-tournament report published by Amnesty International last month, human rights abuses “persist on a significant scale” in Qatar.

To expect us to ignore the fact homosexuality is illegal in Qatar is deplorable and dangerous.

World Cup should be beacon of hope, instead it feels like a step backwards

Many LGBTQ+ football fans will feel they can’t attend the World Cup to support their country because of Qatar’s record on LGBTQ+ rights.

The English FA have sought clarification on how LGBTQ+ supporters will be treated during the tournament.

They are still waiting for an answer.

LGBTQ+ fans travelling to the World Cup will do so with much trepidation, which is unacceptable.

Fifa are asking competing nations to divorce football from politics and morality.

No. The whitewash can’t happen.

Politics, and morality, are fundamental to the world’s most popular sport that should be unifying and forward-thinking.

The World Cup should be a life-affirming celebration of all cultures, all sexualities, all nations – everyone.

The global campaign calling on #Qatar and #FIFA to compensate migrant workers has received wide public support from multiple football associations, fans groups and #WorldCup sponsors, and now, support from the #Socceroos, Australia's Men's National Football Team. pic.twitter.com/r7NpX5Cuss

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) October 27, 2022

In today’s troubled times, it should be a beacon of hope.

How can it be when Fifa are asking us to ignore human rights issues and migrant worker deaths in Qatar?

Instead this feels like a backwards step.

I’ll watch the World Cup, but do so with a seething anger that it is being held in Qatar.

And with the knowledge that by watching it I am a hypocrite.

Aberdeen FC Community Trust are changing people’s lives

“Aberdeen have what money can’t buy – a soul, a team spirit built in a family tradition” – the words of legend Alfredo Di Stefano.

Real Madrid great Di Stefano recognised that strength in May 1983 as the Dons beat his side to lift the European Cup Winner’s Cup.

Almost four decades on, those sentiments still hold firm.

The success of Aberdeen FC’s Community Trust proves the Dons are more than a football club, it is a family.

|Aberdeen FC Community Trust chief executive Liz Bowie pictured at Pittodrie Stadium, Picture by Kami Thomson

A report published this week highlighted the superb and vital work in the community carried out by the Trust.

Work within schools has helped close the poverty attainment gap and has encouraged young people to engage in education.

The Trust’s MINDSET programme addresses adolescent mental wellbeing through play-based learning.

Their youth ambassador programme, Brighter Futures, supports the transition from school for youngsters through skills development, work experience and volunteering.

The Trust also provide grassroots and mass participation football opportunities across the city and Aberdeenshire.

These include coaching, holiday camps, leagues and festivals.

Alleviating social isolation and loneliness within older people is also tackled by Aberdeen FC Community Trust.

They provide activities such as health walks, and programmes for those with dementia and memory impairment.

The “Football Memories” initiative, run with Alzheimer Scotland, enables conversations around a shared interest in football and past games, often with former Dons players.