Well as we approach the finals it seems that the protests against the authorities in Qatar are building up.

Fair do’s to Peter Tatchell, he puts his money where his mouth is and demonstrated in Qatar earlier this week. Good on him.

So far we have seen minor protests by a few countries but nothing of particular significance. However, today there was an internet broadside by the Aussie football team. The full content is available on all the major news outlets. No need to repeat it here.

I think it will only get worse. I know the Wales LBQT community have made their views clear on this. I hope our players follow the Aussie example and issue their own statement.

My view, I will watch it (let’s get it over and done with), but will probably be the least enjoyable WC for me for years. So many issues:

8000 migrant workers deaths
Wicked laws against sexuality in Qatar
Too hot and played at the wrong time of year

Very strange as this is the first WC finals that Wales have attended since 1958 and I should have more interest. I even have no idea as to where the next WC is. Hope the build up is better than this one.

Next one is, I believe, USA, Canada and Mexico combo.

excessbee wrote: October 27th, 2022, 9:00 pm Next one is, I believe, USA, Canada and Mexico combo.

would that be a chilli con carne with maple syrup

pembsexile wrote: October 27th, 2022, 7:37 pmMy view, I will watch it (let’s get it over and done with), but will probably be the least enjoyable WC for me for years. So many issues:

8000 migrant workers deaths
Wicked laws against sexuality in Qatar
Too hot and played at the wrong time of year

Very strange as this is the first WC finals that Wales have attended since 1958 and I should have more interest. I even have no idea as to where the next WC is. Hope the build up is better than this one.

I agree wholeheartedly with paragraphs 1 and 3.

Paragraph 2 blows my mind. Eight thousand? Really? Assuming it's that many you'd think such a regime would've concealed the scale of the human tragedy.

Hi Jon,

Just done a bit more research on this. I got my figure from a previous BBC report. The International Trade Union Confederation says that the number of deaths before the tournament starts will be 7000. Bloody scandal and tragic.

pembsexile wrote: October 28th, 2022, 10:45 am Hi Jon,

Just done a bit more research on this. I got my figure from a previous BBC report. The International Trade Union Confederation says that the number of deaths before the tournament starts will be 7000. Bloody scandal and tragic.

Clip I lifted from The Construction News:

More than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since the gulf nation was selected to host the World Cup, according to analysis by the Guardian.

The newspaper said the figure was based on compiled government data from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which showed there were 5,927 deaths between 2011 and 2020. A further 842 workers from Pakistan died between 2010 and 2020. The Guardian claims the overall total is likely to be far higher because it does not include countries like the Philippines and Kenya, which also have a high number of workers travelling to Qatar for work.

Chepstow'sFine wrote: October 28th, 2022, 3:42 pm

pembsexile wrote: October 28th, 2022, 10:45 am Hi Jon,

Just done a bit more research on this. I got my figure from a previous BBC report. The International Trade Union Confederation says that the number of deaths before the tournament starts will be 7000. Bloody scandal and tragic.

Clip I lifted from The Construction News:

More than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since the gulf nation was selected to host the World Cup, according to analysis by the Guardian.

The newspaper said the figure was based on compiled government data from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which showed there were 5,927 deaths between 2011 and 2020. A further 842 workers from Pakistan died between 2010 and 2020. The Guardian claims the overall total is likely to be far higher because it does not include countries like the Philippines and Kenya, which also have a high number of workers travelling to Qatar for work.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... d-cup-2022

For context here is the Guardian piece where it mentions 37 deaths constructing the actual venues. It doesn't mention how many migrant workers are in Qatar generally, or have been there over the ten year period.

Edit, this piece from Amnesty International indicates 2 million migrant workers each year in a Country the same physical size as Yorkshire.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campa ... world-cup/

Not just me then , from today's Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -world-cup

Now that the World Cup is coming to an end, and any protests largely subside, I wonder if anyones personal view on Qatar has shifted, and in which direction?

Personally I have noticed that a director working for ITV and a journalist have both passed away while covering the tournament. Both foreign workers, which bearing in mind it has only been on for 3 weeks. Qatar has had 2 million foreign workers for the last 10 years, so would be interesting to see what the expected mortality rate from causes other than work would be.

Qatar was a British protectorate, and as late as 1952 still had African slaves diving for pearls as the main economy. So it was pleasing to see an African nation progress further at Qatar than any previous tournaments.

Any comments one way or the other?

Bangitintrnet wrote: December 15th, 2022, 12:56 pm Now that the World Cup is coming to an end, and any protests largely subside, I wonder if anyones personal view on Qatar has shifted, and in which direction?

Personally I have noticed that a director working for ITV and a journalist have both passed away while covering the tournament. Both foreign workers, which bearing in mind it has only been on for 3 weeks. Qatar has had 2 million foreign workers for the last 10 years, so would be interesting to see what the expected mortality rate from causes other than work would be.

Qatar was a British protectorate, and as late as 1952 still had African slaves diving for pearls as the main economy. So it was pleasing to see an African nation progress further at Qatar than any previous tournaments.

Any comments one way or the other?

I was never against Qatar per se and apart from a few false starts around accommodation and prices the tournament seems to have run smoothly and the country looks beautiful in an odd sort of way, while I probably wouldn’t holiday there I might do a nights stopover if I ever flew with Qatar Airways - albeit didn’t think it should have been hosted there 1) 'Alleged' corruption 2) time of year of world cup i.e., its traditionally been and seen as a summer tournament.

I was more against the sheer brass necked hypocrisy of the 'football authorities', sponsors and media who are ever so keen, especially in the UK, to push taking the knee, women’s football and rainbow laces etc (and decry anyone who objects to these as a philistine and bigot even the objections are reasonable) as if football fans are uniquely in need of ‘re-education’ and yet then play world cup in a country where [rightly or wrongly] women are not fully emancipated, [male] homosexuality is illegal* and there are racist employment policies THAT’s what got me and I think a lot of others too.

*interestingly few if any counties including the UK ever outlawed female homosexuality even it is/was socially unacceptable in some states it was rarely if ever illegal