World Cup 2022

 

Today is the first day of the World Cup in Qatar, a country with no footballing heritage but it does have an awful Human Rights record and has laws criminalizing same-sex relationships which in a Footballing world run on morals would have excluded it but the Footballing World is run by FIFA and morals are not high on their agenda so it's football in the desert this November.
Despite FIFA writing to all national teams asking them not to make political statements, some teams captains have committed to  wearing heart-shaped armbands to support an outlawed homosexual movements and Denmark’s squad is taking a black protest team kit with the national team badge, Hummel logo and decorative white chevrons faded into the same single colour as the shirt as a sign of 'mourning' for those migrant workers who died building the stadiums in Qatar.    
The Netherlands national team wore t-shirts emblazoned with the words 'Football supports change', Norway players wore shirts stating 'HUMAN RIGHTS' and the German team lined up in black shirts, each with one white letter to spell out 'HUMAN RIGHTS' and did discuss boycotting the World Cup.
Fifa have come out and said that they respect all opinions and beliefs without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world, a version of  sport and politics should be kept separate to not piss off the nation hosting it.  
The repeated promises made by Qatar, including by its Emir at the United Nations, that all visitors to Qatar will be welcome 'regardless of origin, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality' is true, of course they are welcome but only if they are prepared to forego their human rights while there.
Many players and managers have voiced their concern including England’s Beth Mead who said that were she to travel to Qatar with her partner, team-mate Vivianne Miedema, they would be risking flogging, incarceration or execution with any public show of affection.
Broadcasters have been banned from interviewing people not directly involved in the football matches themselves and risk having their permits to film removed by the Qatari Government if deemed 'inappropriate or offensive to the Qatari culture, Islamic principles' which makes it impossible to investigate issues such as the way in which migrant workers have been treated and LGBTQ+ rights.
It shouldn't be played there and FIFA and Qatar will be hoping that once the football starts fans will forget about the backwards country hosting the Championship so we can hope that more teams make gestures to remind the viewers a home.