The three reasons why Europeans turn their backs on the World Cup and challenge FIFA

The atypical and surprising image is repeated every time a European team presents itself: the openings in the stands appear everywhere. Stadiums in Qatar are not full, no matter how many fans are rented. Argentina-Saudi Arabia is, at the moment, the duel with the most spectators. And there were still empty seats. yes: neither Lionel Messi reached full capacity. And something curious happened with the match that followed with the largest number of spectators: in Qatar-Ecuador, on the opening day, most of the local fans left a few minutes after the start of the second half.

Doubts arise. And the World Cup? What is the reason for the empty stadiums? Are UEFA and FIFA at odds? Why did the Europeans turn their backs on Qatar and challenge FIFA?

The reasons for neglect, roughly speaking, are three. First, the change of calendar did not favor the Europeans who are now going through the winter period, so they don’t have long holidays. In regards to education, for example, classes continue to be taught at different levels and there is only a mini-break for the holidays.

The second reason is the distance and complexity to reach Qatar. The same thing happens there as here and getting to the exotic country that won the World Cup requires some serious pre-planning.

The third of the reasons, which we will focus on, is the boycott that several European countries are doing at the World Cup.

The spark that ignited everything was the revelation provided by The Guardianof the United Kingdom, in which it stated so the number of migrant workers who have died since the start of the World Cup in Qatar stands at 6,500. Since then, at the beginning of February of this year, they have begun to militate against the World Cup on social networks. Yes, they called for a boycott.

But the violation of the human rights of workers, mostly from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, was not the only reason for the discomfort of some Europeans: the environmental impact of the tournament, the violated rights of women, the ban on sexual diversity and harassment of the LGTBIQ+ community. And something else: for many fans and traditionalists, the Arab world represents the modern football of sheikhs who own clubs with petrodollars as their flag.

Word of the boycott began to spread and several football federations echoed it. The Dutch national team has launched a campaign to use the captain’s armband with the legend One Love and with a colorful striped heart and fast coupled England, Wales, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany. They used it in some friendlies. The intention was to demonstrate in favor of human rights and against homophobia, anti-Semitism and racism. But FIFA stood firm and warned there would be penalties if a captain used the tape during the World Cup. The postcard of a linesman checking Manuel Neuer’s arms will remain for posterity.

The formation image of the German team has also gone around the world. All the players covered their mouths in protest. “It was a team gesture, on our part, from the fact that FIFA is gagging us”said Germany coach Hansi Flick following his side’s 2-1 defeat by Japan. “With our captaincy, we wanted to send a message about the values ​​of the national team: diversity and mutual respect. Raise your voice together with other nations”added the German Federation (DFB) in a statement.

In addition, the DFB itself replaced the logo of the supermarket company REWE, which ended its sponsorship due to the controversy with the inclusive bracelet. One Lovefrom the campaign logo itself One Love. “We saw the opportunity, even in the almost daily press conferences in Qatar, to maintain the position in the One Love campaign”it was explained.

But since the matter transcends football, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, seated next to Gianni Infantino, wore the armband of One Love, the same one that Neuer could not use. And a few hours later, the Belgian officer Hadja Lahbib imitated her during the Belgium-Canada confrontation.

More political issues: the Royal House of Denmark has confirmed that Prince Frederick – a sports lover – will not go to the World Cup in protest. And it is assumed that King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Máxima’s husband, will do the same.

A few fused T-shirts from Europe are seen on the streets of Doha; the fields look like empty places every time they play. Information speaks of no more than 3,000 Dutch and a similar number of Spaniards on first dates. Support for Portugal, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark has also not been massive. A graphic fact: at the interval of the duel between Spain and Costa Rica, the doors of the Al Thumama stadium were opened and the public was only allowed to enter by showing their Hayya card.

Germany is perhaps the country that most strongly opposes the World Cup. The mass protests started there, in the Bundesliga stadiums. On the date of the first week of November, fans of Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin, Bayern Munich, Augsburg and Mainz hung flags and banners against Qatar. What’s more: in most German bars, league matches will not be broadcast.

The crowd numbers from the first match against Japan suggest that the boycott is having some success in the Teutonic country. Only 9.23 million Germans watched the debut of the manschafta very low audience compared to 2018. Four and a half years ago, the first match of the Germans in Russia against Mexico (1-0 defeat), brought together around 26 million viewers and more than four out of five Germans in front of its television (81.6% market share).

In France, for its part, the same did not happen because the ratings were similar to those of Russia. And something similar happened in Spain: 25% of the population witnessed something like 7-0 against Costa Rica.

In the Netherlands, an EenVandaag poll of 28,000 people revealed that only 14% were interested in following the tournament.

“For what we Europeans have done to the world in the last 3,000 years, we should apologize for another 3,000 years before we start teaching people moral lessons.”, released Gianni Infantino in his fiery inaugural speech. And he lashed out: “This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy”.

And the head of Fifa is somewhat right because no federation has left the World Cup and because no European country has canceled the bilateral agreements with Qatar.

Another fundamental issue is the declared war between UEFA and FIFA. Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin intends to challenge Infantino for power and has opposed the idea of ​​the World Cup every 2 years. On the other hand, the number 1 of Fifa has not openly condemned the creation of a European Super League, promoted by Real Madrid, with the best clubs on the continent.

“Conmebol would never enter a boycott. We are open to debate, to listen and learn, to give our opinion. We have some football history to contribute, but talking about a boycott sounds bad. What is needed is tolerance and knowledge how to speak”, Alejandro Domínguez, head of Conmebol, has positioned himself. And expanded: “A debate like this cannot start today and believe it will end today. The debate needs much more time and not exploiting the moment in football to make this a topic that could be discussed sooner or later.”

Protests in Europe are diverse and different from the vested interests of countries and federations. The Qatar boycott is not forced, even if it seems strong. And while the Europeans turn their backs on the World Cup, empty seats are multiplying in the stadiums of Doha.