6,500 and Counting…

6,500 and counting…this isn’t the number of concert tickets sold at Justin Biebers next gig or even the number of NFTs he’s endorsing…this is the number of people who have unfortunately passed away building stadiums, Hotels and infrastructure, etc to enable the 2022 World Cup with the real total likely to be much more.

It was December 2, 2010 when it was announced who would host the World Cup for 2022 by FIFA - to add to this they also announced Russia would host the 2018 tournament. Although all Countries should have the opportunity to host a World Cup, be it for boosting its own economy and to self-promote itself as a place to visit, both these Countries have vast wealth and often use the sport of football as a PR smoke screen to cover up the true nature of what really goes on there…although Russia are currently going all out now to show us their true colours.

The focus of this rant though, isn’t specifically Russia or the corruption surrounding FIFA awarding the World Cup to either of these Nations; The focus is the body count accumulated developing the infrastructure to facilitate the tournament. I mean before we go any further let’s just highlight the point.

AS A CONSEQUENCE OF HOSTING THE 2022 WORLD CUP, 6,500 WORKERS HAVE DIED.

Now I’m not trying to fake news readers here, as I’m 100% certain this wasn’t in the bid nor did anyone know the magnitude of workers who would die as a consequence but I think we all know enough about the current worker and human rights issues in this region of the World to anticipate this was an inevitable outcome. As someone who has worked in the Middle East region within the construction industry, I know first hand how this works, as does anyone. Everyone knew there would be sacrifices to get this project completed (and at any cost) and if workers died (or props and tools as they’re seen as), then the attitude seems to be ‘so be it’.

Having worked in this region of the World, where you come from determines where you stand in the hierarchical band. Very loosely it goes (from top down); Locals, Western white faces, Filipino, Indians, Bangladeshi. Your salary and social standing weigh heavily on this factor regardless of your integrity, experience, knowledge, personality; everything! Your are put in your place based on your ethnicity and you will be treated as such. I worked with Architects who despite them being more knowledgeable than me, were earning a lot less because they were from India.

Now the top of the hierarchy will try to promote that workers are treated well and they’ll throw a celebrity’s face in front of it (you know who you are David Beckham) to gaslight us, but we know too well this is all a facade. They’ll also make statements like ‘we vehemently deny any wrong doing’, as if using the word ‘vehemently’, somehow means the statement must be undeniably true.

However, despite the realities of the world in this region, which is truly tragic, it’s how the rest of the world is sort of just going along with it. We expect oppression from certain Nations, Dictators, people, etc but by the world taking this passive approach to the situation, perhaps because people feel there is nothing they can singlehandedly do to change the culture of a place, then we just carry on as normal. Now I get Joe Public can’t go and change the way of the world in places like these, but it should make more people angry and at least feel the moral dilemma of boycotting. It seems people are of the attitude that what’s done is done, so we may as well make the most of it now and enjoy the World Cup.

Also, why any one of the Countries competing aren’t boycotting is beyond me; Just because Sepp and his mates made a few quid out of it, doesn’t mean you’re forced to go. Equally, I get these tournaments only come around once every 4-years and it might be the only chance certain players get to play at such a level, but can you honestly go there and just accept this as a consequence of playing in a World Cup?

Also, let’s look at this from another perspective. England also bid for both these World Cups and given the high-tech stadiums available and the fact they haven’t hosted since 1966, seemed like a no brainer. I also recall £30m of taxpayers money being used to prepare the bid, which given the votes had already been bought, should mean England are owed some sort of compensation…but I digress. What my point here is, hypothetically, had England been awarded the tournament and 6,500 workers died in the process, would we still be having this World Cup?

In short - NOT A F****** CHANCE.

Firstly, if one single person had died on any one Site, the Site would’ve been closed down with an investigation conducted by the Health and Safety Executive Board (HSE). Italia ‘90, USA ‘94, France ‘98, Germany ‘06…if anyone of these ‘Western Countries’ had had such a death toll these World Cups wouldn’t have taken place but when Countries have elements of mystery and secrecy surrounding them we seem to turn a blind eye. This isn’t exclusive to just football projects either; Would we accept this in any aspect of our lives? It’s the equivalent of knowing full well your neighbour is abusing his Wife but because you don’t necessarily see it, you start to doubt it and carry on with your day-to-day life, ignoring the blatantly obvious.

During the African Cup of Nations 2021, 8 fans tragically died at the Olembe Stadium due to safety negligence, which obviously had an affect on the tournament and teams and players commemorated this. Will the Team and/or individuals who lift the World Cup this December honour the 6,500? Will anyone?

I suspect in the large part each individual will feel some sort of right of passage to a clear conscious. Like if it was down to them they’d boycott but since their Coach, Management, Footballing Body, FIFA, etc is making them go then they’re obliged to and there’s nothing they can do about it.

BULL****!!

Each player or coach has the right to boycott. Okay they blow their chance at playing or taking part in a major tournament and it may work against them for future team selections, but if that is the case, if people would look down on you for having this opinion, then to hell with it anyways.

The long and short of it is though that it ultimately (as ever) comes down to money. It started with a bribe, it’s evolved with huge commercial contracts, sponsorship deals and celebrity endorsement - even Beckham has a price on his moral compass; ‘Give me £150m and I’m all yours.’ It’s the same with most things in life. We can all turn a blind eye to a certain extent if the moneys right but I just think when there’s a situation where loss of life is the consequence, how is it the world can turn a blind eye?