While wars and politics have often caused nations to pull out of the Olympics, it seems nothing gets in the way of soccer.
The Most Controversial World Cup Ever
When the second World Cup took place in Italy in 1934, Uruguay boycotted the tournament. They were still annoyed that not enough European nations had come to their World Cup held four years earlier. No team has ever boycotted a World Cup since.
But if ever there was a World Cup to boycott, then this year’s would be it.
To say 2022’s event is already the most controversial World Cup of all time would not be that, well, controversial. Sepp Blatter and many other FIFA members have already gone on record as saying it was a mistake to give the World Cup to Qatar. But then backing up a truckload of cash to ease the voting may have helped.
Since then, there have been numerous reasons to walk away from that decision. Human rights organizations have condemned the working conditions of migrants who built the World Cup’s stadiums, as well as condemning general conditions for migrants in the nation. While only 37 workers have died in the construction of the stadiums, some 6,500 migrant workers have perished in the country since it won its bid for the World Cup in 2010. Wages are poor, and conditions are atrocious.
With homosexuality outlawed in Qatar, gays can be imprisoned for up to seven years, and there have even been instances of people being put to death. While soccer has been encouraging players to come out, the World Cup in Qatar will not be the place to do it.
Then, of course, there’s the fact that Qatar has never qualified for a World Cup in their own right, it’s so hot there the tournament was forced to move from June and July for the first time in its history, and fans can’t drink alcohol in the stadiums. That last bit finally got your attention, right?
The only thing that will really upset soccer fans, though, is if the tournament itself is a letdown.
The 1934 event was a celebration of fascism and the 1938 one a homage to Adolf Hitler. But the 2010 World Cup in South Africa irritated most fans because of the quality of the soccer, the mosquitoes and those annoying vuvuzela horns, while others were seriously put off by the 1994 tournament in the U.S. because the crowds and grounds didn’t quite feel right.
What soccer aficionados really want are great sports nations going head-to-head, on good pitches, in great stadiums, with knowledgeable fans. So for all the human rights issues and politics surrounding this World Cup, as long as the pitches are well watered, the heat is bearable and the stadiums are packed, then we’re on board.
A decent giant-killing early on and some cracking goals, and we’ll forget the rest. It shouldn’t be that way, but it really will be.
What might be the biggest problem for fans around the world watching on TV, though, is the time of year. English fans used to watching their team in short sleeves and sunshine will be confined to home and the pub through November into December. The same applies for most big soccer nations. However, in Australia — a nation used to getting up at 4 a.m. in freezing midwinter to watch games — the tournament will take place in beautiful summer heat. Reason enough to forget the controversies already.
So far the World Cup has been anything but “a letdown” by most definitions. Granted, a few of the teams on the losing end of a surprise upset might disagree, but one cannot judge life by losers if for no other reason than bitter tastes icky. (And if you click that link you can see what news sites from around the world cover. We think that may be one of the best things about the web, but we may be odd. Others have opined as such.) All of that said, however, we could not resist the opportunity to make a simple statement with a single photograph of what the world might enjoy if they only put Penthouse Pets on the teams.
Granted the pure athletics might not be up to world-class athlete standards, but do you think people would really mind?
