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World Cup 2022: why is Qatar a controversial location for the tournament? Nov 29, 2022 (Reuters)

The decision to award Qatar hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup has been marred by controversy around issues such as local climate conditions, human rights violations, and, in particular, the welfare of migrant workers, since it was first announced 12 years ago.

FIFA awarded the 2022 tournament to the Middle Eastern country in 2010, with the understanding it would be held during the summer, where temperatures exceed 40 degrees.

In 2015, FIFA recommended that Qatar host a shorter World Cup over the cooler months of November and December in a move that was sure to put soccer's world governing body on a collision course with the major European leagues. The big European leagues would prefer an AprilMay option to minimise disruption to their lucrative domestic seasons. But this latter alternative did not prevail and the schedule change to the northern hemisphere winter marked the first time that the World Cup moved from its regular slot of June and July when Europe's domestic leagues have concluded their seasons.

Britain’s 7newspaper reported that at least 6,500 migrant workers – many of them working on World Cup projects – had died in Qatar since it won the right in 2010 to stage the World Cup. The International Labour Organization has questioned that number, which it said included all deaths in the overall migrant population, which consists of 2, 9 million people. Qatari World Cup organisers have said that there have been three work-related fatalities and 34 non-work-related deaths among workers at World Cup 2022 sites.

Amnesty International and other rights groups have led calls for FIFA to compensate migrant workers in Qatar for human rights abuses by setting aside $440 million, matching the World Cup prize money. They believe that their fight for compensation may make up for the abuse suffered by migrant workers.

Apart from the schedule change and the welfare of migrant workers, violation in women's and LGBT’s rights, as well as the strict control on alcohol were other issues which nurtured the controversy around the 2022 Word Cup in Qatar.

Available at : https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/world-cup-2022-why-is-qatar-controversial-location-fifa-tournament. Access: 03 Dec. 2022. Adapted.