Wikipedia

Search results

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

Qatar2022 vs Russia2018

I was listening to the radio at lunch today and the issue of Qatar hosting the World Cup and its human rights record came up. I do think that it is right to raise these issues, and while some were mentioned four years ago when Russia hosted the World Cup, I do not remember this level of outrage back then.  


In 2018, Russia had an appalling human rights record.  Political opponents were being killed (as is still happening now), it had assassinated people abroad and of course invaded Ukraine four years before along with destroying MH17LGBTQ rights in Russia are also oppressed.

Personally, I am not going to boycott the World Cup, just as many did not boycott the 2018 World Cup, the Winter Olympics in Russia, the main Olympics in China or the more recent Winter Olympics.

It is right to raise issues of human rights, but I hope that this level of outrage will be present for any future sporting events held in nations like China in the future.