FIFA didn't look at issues with Qatar
Human rights? Women? Heat? FIFA didn't look at issues with Qatar
A view point from Ann Killion, a sportswriter from Sports Illustrated.
In the days since FIFA's baffling decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar there has been a lot of talk about adjusting the timetable because of the oppressive heat.
The heat is sure to be a nightmare, but it's a different kind of oppression I'm concerned about.
As a female sportswriter who may be at the 2022 World Cup as a working journalist traveling solo, how will I be treated? Will thousands of female visitors be accepted? Will gay football fans be harassed?
The 22 men on the FIFA Executive Committee apparently don't care that Qatar isn't exactly a leader when it comes to human rights. They were wowed by imaginary stadiums, the impact of petrodollars and president Sepp Blatter's apparent desire to take over the world.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ann_killion/12/14/qatar/in...
just wonder, will it be a sports event or a gay and prostitution mela???
yes I am being just a little bit sarcastic.
Well said na7oola
firstly, the heat thing mite be an issue BUT there are talks about scheduling the event during january...
the women issue, uh theres no women issue 0.o do u even live in Qatar?
the gay issue? well, as long as u dont public out your self i guess you'll be fine =P plus i have seen sum reallllly gay dudes who look like women srsly, and they dont have no shit happenenin to them.
and finally @butterfly ur kidding ryt? especially the last part xD
http://0iffy0.wordpress.com/
uh?
Gays don't face any kind of discrimintion in Qatar It is just a well known fact that homosexuality doesn't exist in Qatar at all.
Yes, there are no gays in Qatar. None. Not even one. Zero.
Ask any qatari, they'll tell you.
Franz Beckenbauer is the only committee member that can hold his head up high.
He had already announced last month that he will be resigning from his post at FIFA in March and the vote has now given him even more reason to walk away. "I am disappointed with the way FIFA has dealt with the results," he added. "They have made a disgrace of the seven defeated nations, particularly England and Australia."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/dec/14/franz-beckenbauer-fifa-world-cup
Q.E.D is an initial of a latin phrase which means "what was to be demonstrated"
painther....'quod erat demonstrandum'...
She did not do research= not a credible writer....
Q.E.D....:)
Happy whts QED ?
my general impression is that American's knowledge of history & geograpghy of WORLD is limited!!
Q.E.D...:)
This just proved that Ann Killion did not do her research before writing this article = not credible writer at all!
Painther,
exactly, that's why i added all the in-betweens!
That’s perceptional!!
We live in a world wherein every fact has two facets (at times many), one side says other naive or hypocrite, and vice versa. Like, one says grabbing markets (business) is the primary (latent) objective while others say grabbing markets (business) is just a tool to some other objective (theirs vision). It leads to many conspiracy theories!!!
painther,
i was being sharply objective for restriction of time and space, but let me soften my statement
i'll rephrase it to: naive in the sense that he/she is not aware that money makes the world go around or hypocrite in the sense that he/she knows but does not want to admit, or a third option: something in between naive and hypocrite.
Nic,
I personally agree, fully, with the statement however, disagree that someone who thinks otherwise is either naive or hypocrite!
our such assumption, whether this or that, itself is hypocrite!
Painther,
It’s not a matter of agreeing with someone, it’s a matter of what you think about this statement:
"If there is anything more influential than the business of big politics, it is the politics of big business"
What else would you call someone who doesn’t admit the obvious?
Now thats funny, either you agree with me or I'll brand you 'naive or hypocrite'!
?
Winn,
I totally agree with you and anyone who says the contrary is either naive or hypocrite!
What a sad world we live in or should I say, what a sad species, humankind is!
For those who believe that humans are a creation of a divine source, I can say whatever that divine source is, is far from being perfect as it did a terrible job!
yeah Nic, I do believe that all the present conflicts, whether played out in the name of religion, political views or ethnicity, are actually turf wars- fought not for dominion over territories or populaces but for dominion over markets.
End of the day, it all boils down to King Cash.
Winns,
you siad it all:
"if there is anything more influential than the business of big politics, it is the politics of big business"
Winns nice to see you back as always..:)
Gays will watch the matches like any other. They are not gona make love on the gallery or footpath.Duh!!
she is scared how she will be treated? shift her to the war reporters section and send her to Afghan. lol
she is just a looser trying to politicize this.
i think obama said that Time : NO....WE CAN NOT "
My comment to all those people from the rest of the world saying shyte about Qatar: Grapes are Sour
Now on a more domestic issue...yes Qatar has a long way to go and will need to make some serious changes around here starting with the sponsorship system that HAS to be done away with. Funny how it took a Football Game to make them think about abolishing this system...keep in mind they are still thinking about it and God knows when that will happen.
Expect more bad journalism as they didnt expect Qatar to win...
It actually started with Obama....
Na7oola........you said it......i like you.............
interesting........Hmmmm
Forget 'new territories' or 'human rights'. There is an intersting 'economic' angle here. The competitors being nations 'that could host a world cup tomorrow' Qatar was the only nation whose winning of the venue would open up coffers to the tune of billions of dollars in terms of mega construction projects (a cash flow that would obviously benefit a lot more folks than those here in Qatar) and banking deals.
Which other nation would/could start initiatives that would need circulating about 100 billion USD on winning the bid? and with the world economy being where it is now, no country in west is exactly in a position to kick off such a thing.
Human rights? You gotta be kidding me! Only thing that means anything in these discussion tables is megabucks. "if there is anything more influential than the business of big politics, it is the politics of big business" (forgot who said tht :-p)
Seriously?!!! You work in Sports Illustrated AS A JOURNALIST and you are this BADLY INFORMED?
I like Americans. They're good people. But it never ceases to amaze me how ignorant they can be.
An advice from a woman to a woman... why don't you try to do your job and actually BE a real journalist? Investigate before you brain dump.
You are coming to an arab country, not a barbaric place.
Just like women don't flaunt their bits around here, gay men aren't "in your face" either. We don't lynch people who want to express themselves or be themselves. But it's a culture of modesty and respect. So if you want to be gay, or dress a certain way... be our guest. Just don't be blatantly over the top about it and we will gladly turn a blind eye (i.e. it's not a competition to see how much of your womanly bits you can show or how homosexual you can be). Women and gays live amongst us as contributing pillars to society everyday, but everyone knows the norms.
As an Arab woman, living in the US, I respected the american culture when I was there and didn't try to force my beliefs on your people. So why do you expect to come here and expect the worse of us?!
Come as our guest with an open mind and you'll see we are just like you. People trying to live a dream and make the best of our lives without harming others.
P.S. Sepp Blatter doesn't want to take over the world... it's your country's politicians who do!
A journalist who lacks information? Not a reliable one then (there's even Google). Plus, a journalist, whether male or female, shouldn't be too picky about places they're assigned to be in.
yeah, american! :0
i will read that Nic, thanks.
somwerNdmiddle,
banning is not appropriate for someone who has nothing to hide!
we get extremes on both sides of the coin.
check this article where Qatar is 200% good, nothing at all needs improvement here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/nov/25/world-cup-2022-qatar-fifa
American. Nuff said :o(
well for one, this journalist should be banned from entering Qatar during the WC 2022
Thanks for the support NIC. I will be sailing for the National Day celebration so will have the rainbow and Qatari flag on me boat..
We must show them what Qatar is....
These are the bye-products of irresponsible journalists who are blind when criticising asian and arab countries..-human rights issue,regarding expatriates, qatar is already started studies for implimenting a new law.....
Another FIFA-22 cynicism..!!!! My two points-
1. Believe O you all unbelievers that Qatar is conferred the RIGHT to host FIFA-22 and it’ll deliver it magnificently. Heat, yes, but people are living here for ages and survived, let the rest of world enjoy it too; why such hue n cry about it. And if you can’t wear it enjoy on TV, simple. There are plentiful of people here who will watch in stadia (I’m one for sure) . Blatter is right, people of ME also have equal right to host such event and they are part this world only not from mars !!! peace!!!
2. My hope and expectation from Qatar is, owing to this mega event and international spotlight, to abolish “Bondage Labor Regime”. This is inhuman and should not have a place in modern day world. I hope they liberalize labor rules and atleast remove exit permits, rigid sponsorship rules….…….
UkEngQatar
LOL... do it now, for the National Day.
You'll probably make it to the international news ;)
Formatted Soul,
Skepticism is being used here as pressure for change ;)
ah those dumb americans. they reinforce their image every time they report on something.
rishi I am thinking of actually carrying a rainbow flag with a Qatari flag wonder how many people will notice what it is?..hehehe
Oryx,
I agree with you but we should never give up in contributing to improving the life of those less lucky ones. Nothing changed in China but maybe things will change here, let's give it a try.
As I said I don’t need a tiny piece of change to make my life better, but does that mean that I shouldn’t care for others who weren’t as lucky as I am?
Certainly not!
As for the heat, the huge risk in represents and the huge impact of the environment to minimize it... for that reason, my sense of responsible citizen of this planet, does not allow me to support the event in a climate like this one.
she is totally ignorant and could have done more research before writing her article.
it's just plan and simple sour-graping that Qatar won the bid, grow up haters!
i didnt know carrying rainbow flags and painting faces would get me arrested in qatar..!!
What is wrong with people..Qatar holds prestige, Golf, tennis, Motor GP, Atheletics, and lots of other sporting events no human rights issues before why suddenly that WC 2022 all these issues are being highlighted.
South Africa being one of highest crime rate in the world, did that stop Fifa?
Nic …we all know that there are lots of things to be improved prior to 2022 ..including human rights.. isn’t 12 yrs a long time to sort out such issues? why are people being skeptical now itself...
Pilgram…thanks for enlightening me..:)
Pilgram,
I agree with you.
I am yet waiting for a fair report, that will cover the actual areas for improvement in Qatar (systematize and openly practiced discrimination, labor law to improve life and working conditions of migrant workers and maids, exit permits, sponsorship, etc, etc...)
As for the heat, it is a genuine concern that got diluted in the middle of all that ignorance display.
Shouldn't a 'viewpoint' be an informed thus insightful piece of prose?
And you are right I think about it being a politicised piece. Human Rights???? Look China got the olympics and the asian games ...... don't think it made an iota of difference.
FS, if they come as a big group just picture a lot of rainbow flags and painted faces. It's not that they will in anyway act any differently than other fans, it's that they will be clearly identifiable as gays and I personally am afraid that that will open them up to either being arrested or harassed.
Formatted Soul,
I don’t think that she is so much concerned about how women and gays are treated inside stadiums.
Being an American journalist, she is politicizing the situation, and highlights the current areas for improvement in accordance with her understanding.
As I said, she is not well informed, but there is definitely areas for improvement here in Qatar when it comes to human rights. Matter as well takes advantage of Qatar being on the world spotlight to apply pressure for change!
This kind of pressure will come in an avalanche, wait and see ;)
She does come across as awfully ignorant. I'm sorry I did a google search on Qatar 5 years ago and instantly found out what the dress code was (and this was pre Qatarliving!)why can't she?
Oryx,
the sort of journalism is specified in the post: "A view point"
;)
she obviously didn’t do much research about Women living here or travelling to Qatar!!
Excuse my ignorance...what’s the problem in gays watching football? Do they act differently in the stadium?
She is probably ignorant of some aspects.
However don’t you think that the heat is an issue quite impossible to avoid.
And human rights (not for me and most of the expats, but for most of the migrant workers) is an issue that the world should pressure Qatar to improve on?
What sort of journalist is this????
She is worried how she will be treated as a woman???
Actually the 'gay policy' is similar to her American Army
'don't ask don't tell'
Silly moo - getting fed up of articles making sweeping stereotyped comments.
She's coming to Qatar, not Saudi Arabia. I am worried about the harassment of gay football fans, especially if they come in flamboyant groups, but women will be fine.