On November 21, the soccer World Cup starts in Qatar. The championship has been preceded by massive criticism of the host country – where, among other things, a lack of human rights and great injustices for migrant workers are in focus.
Olof Lundh, who is a columnist on the Football Channel, has critically examined the championship for several years, and this Saturday he is traveling to Qatar to cover the WC. Lundh describes the feelings before this championship in comparison to the others he has covered:
– Above all, there is a lot of uncertainty. Will there be protests? How many spectators will there be? It is important to find the right balance. We want to bring the back, we have actually done that for several years. But at the same time, it will also be Lionel Messi’s hunt for that World Cup trophy, he says.
Olof Lundh says that the most important thing to do on site is to tell the stories about the migrant workers’ working conditions and why Qatar was allowed to organize the championship. But also about what he calls “double standards”.
– If people are really upset about the World Cup in Qatar, then they should be upset about the Swedish government, which in 2014 opened an embassy there just so we can do business with Qatar. Is it OK?, says Olof Lundh.
Watch Olof Lundh tell more in the player above.
2,000 billion kroner – that is as much as Qatar is estimated to have bet on the World Cup.
90 percent – about that many percent of the population of Qatar are made up of migrant workers.
800,000 migrant workers – that many have worked with arena construction and infrastructure ahead of the World Cup.
7,000 dead – according to a review by The Guardian, this is how many migrant workers have died since the country was awarded the World Cup in 2010.