Soccer

Here’s Why The 2022 World Cup Is The Most Shameful Sports Event Ever

Darren - November 28, 2022
Soccer

Here’s Why The 2022 World Cup Is The Most Shameful Sports Event Ever

Darren - November 28, 2022

Doha News

Press Freedom

Most western nations enjoy the freedom of speech and resent government interference in the media. Some outlets indeed have political biases but they report what they want. But this isn’t the situation in Qatar where critics will receive lengthy jail sentences. This was a serious issue for foreign journalists before the World Cup.

Nations Online Project

That’s because they had a dilemma about whether to attend the event or not. They didn’t want to live in fear of the Qatari government or face interference. There were embarrassing incidents where security moved foreign reporters. But these people enjoy more freedom than the local press (via Reuters).

FIFA

“Moral Lessons”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino accused the West of trying to teach moral lessons ahead of the World Cup. He pointed to centuries of colonialism as he attempted to silence the critics. However, this is a ridiculous argument because historic issues shouldn’t prevent a country from speaking up.

GOAL

FIFA’s hypocrisy is almost funny if it didn’t affect millions around the world. It may also cost the organization in the long term because some countries are losing patience. The administration lacks self-awareness and is extremely greedy. Their problem is that fans see through the deception (via DW).

MARCA

Armband Wars

Another of the most shameful episodes of this World Cup was the One Love armband ban. Several European nations agreed to wear it as a show of solidarity with the LGBTQI community. But then FIFA intervened at the last moment and warned them against it. Captains who wore the armband could receive a suspension.

The Times

This outraged the countries with Germany issued a harsh response. They took FIFA to a court of arbitration and accused the body of abusing its power. It also humiliated the governing body because it showed its true colors in front of the world. They claimed to care about equality but that wasn’t true (via Sky Sports).

Planet Sport

Gianni’s Speech

Gianni Infantino’s opening speech will go down as one of the most shameful moments in sports history. The FIFA President described how he felt ‘Qatari,’ a ‘migrant worker,’ and ‘gay’ in a script that was out of a Larry David episode. Remarkably, he thought people would respond well to this.

FIFA

The tone-deaf executive revealed that he is out of touch with the average soccer fan. He told them to stay out of politics while making the tournament the most political ever. The worst part is that he didn’t surprise people with his comments because they already think that he’s a moron (via ESPN).

Indian Express

Sportswashing Agenda

Many people only want to watch soccer and don’t care about politics. According to FIFA, that’s what everybody should do but they’re missing the point. Qatar didn’t buy the World Cup because they love soccer. They did it because they want to increase their soft power and that’s the most shameful thing.

ABC

They hope that everybody will shut up and watch the games. But they didn’t realize that many of these issues affect people around the world. Many soccer fans opted out because they don’t want to contribute to Qatar’s agenda. It remains to be seen how effective it will be (via The Conversation).

CNN

Future Shame

Everybody knows that history won’t be kind to the 2022 World Cup. It’s insane that FIFA allowed it to go ahead and that countries didn’t boycott. So many people died constructing the stadiums. Meanwhile, their repressive laws are against the spirit of the tournament they’re hosting.

Foreign Policy

FIFA doesn’t care about this now because they are making money. But when we look back at the tournament it will be almost laughable. They won’t understand why more nations didn’t get angry over this joke of an event. It’s especially crazy after what happened with Russia (via The Guardian).

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