On December 2, 2010, Qatar was awarded the rights to host the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, setting the stage for becoming the first country in the Middle East to do so. The decision has been controversial since the award. The Middle East loves football. However, religious law in many Middle Eastern countries forbid many liberal Western behaviors. The 2010 award has been fraught with challenges.
Within 6 months of the award, then FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who was suspended himself at the time, leaked an email from FIFA’s general secretary claiming Qatar had bought the rights to host the World Cup. This was quickly followed by other whistleblower claims, reversed claims, and later claims of whistleblower coercion.
In 2013 British newspapers began publishing investigative reports of thousands of workers in Qatar who were being exploited and abused in “modern-day slavery”. Later in the year, Amnesty International found Qatar’s construction sector abusive and exploitative.
By 2018 an Amnesty International report stated migrant workers were giving up on justice and were returning home penniless. In response, Qatar allowed workers to change employers and leave the country without their employer’s permission and an exit permit. Qatar, with the highest per capita income on the world, announced a monthly minimum wage of 1,000 riyals ($275) in late 2020. In 2021, Amnesty International stated withholding salaries and charging workers...
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran had agreed not to execute eight women protesters, while Iranian officials and the judiciary denied any such executions had been planned and des...