Copyrights: Image Courtesy “The Workers Cup LLC” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57bc63263e00be03ee9ee11e/t/585e8748e3df282ca4dbde9a/1482590040596/Umesh.jpg
“Are you watching the World Cup this year?” is a question I have been asked an uncountable amount of times. Sure, a world cup in the midst of a desert, right around Christmas time sounds weird. But on the other hand, the World Cup is the event every football fan has been waiting patiently for. That the answer to this debate is neither black nor white; to boycott or not to boycott? That is the question…
On November 20th 2022, the Amnesty Maastricht Academic Events Committee organized a movie screening of “The Worker’s Cup“ at Lumiere Cinema. Produced by an international team of residents of Qatar, the documentary follows five main characters. These men are workers, who have been recruited from various places by a Qatari agency to construct one of the seven new stadiums for the 2022 World Cup.
Sixty percent of Qatar’s total population consist of laborers: that is 1.6 million migrant workers, coming from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Africa. Moreover, numbers of work-related deaths range between 6.500 and 15.000. This absurd wide gap of numbers shows that the Qatari government lacks transparency and accountability for their actions.
As a form of compensation, the workers get the chance to take part in their own tournament and enjoy their 15 minutes of fame as football stars. Sweat, blood and tears tell the story of an empty promise of climbing the social ladder. First the sport unites - but when the team loses, desperation rises and the façade of unity crackles. Dark shadows of greed, disapproval, and racism among the workers surfaces. Verbal attacks and violence painfully demonstrate how their only common ground remains shared hopelessness.
Paul, a 21-year-old Kenyan worker, says that if daily life in his hometown has been hell, then life in Qatar must be heaven. Under the Kafala system they are bound to serve their employer. As residence permits are directly connected to employment, employers have the last say regarding a worker’s decision to leave the country.
During the Panel Discussion of “The Worker’s Cup”
Copyrights: Ada Kallabis
Concluding the movie, there was a panel discussion lead by Amnesty Finance Manager and Law Student Celeste März. She discussed with Lucia Jeremiasová, Ph.D. researcher in Private Law at Maastricht University and Hans Nelen, Professor of Criminology at Maastricht University. Reflecting on the movie, the curious audience once again raised my original query: to boycott or not to boycott this year’s World Cup. It seemed like everybody shared this feeling of despair: “What can I as a single individual even do?”. It is easy getting lost and losing hope surrounded by powerful big actors. And of course, the decision to watch the World Cup lies in everyone’s own hands. But as always, the best that can be done is communicating. Talk to each other, discuss, debate, and raise awareness on human rights violations! We, as the Amnesty Academic Events Committee hope that we could contribute our part to sharing knowledge and engaging discussion.
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