On November 20, 2022, the FIFA World Cup (hereafter, referred to as the World Cup) kicks off in Qatar（※１）。 The World Cup is the world championship of soccer held every 4 years. The host nation, Qatar, is a small country located on a peninsula jutting into the Arabian Gulf, and this will be the first time in history the World Cup is held in the Middle East. Attention is building ahead of the opening, and excitement is growing in Japan as well.

However, while expectations for the tournament are rising, many issues lurk beneath the surface—allegations of corruption, problems with labor conditions, environmental impacts, and diplomatic tensions. This article explores the realities of these issues and how much they have been covered in Japan.

People supporting Qatar (Photo: Doha Stadium Plus Qatar / Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

Host selection

The first issue that arose regarding this World Cup was the suspicion of wrongdoing in the host selection. The host was decided by a vote of FIFA’s Executive Committee in December 2010. Qatar was chosen over the United States, Australia, South Korea, and Japan. There were questions because Qatar had never appeared in the World Cup, the tournament was later rescheduled as the traditional window was deemed impractical due to extreme heat, and there were few facilities such as stadiums available for the event at the time.

In May 2011, allegations surfaced that the Qatari government had paid bribes to FIFA officials, prompting an internal investigation at FIFA. While no definitive proof of wrongdoing in the bid was found, several highly suspicious facts came to light. One was that in 2011, after the vote, US$2 million was deposited into the account of the child of a FIFA official who had participated in the host selection. The person believed to have made the payment, Sandro Rosell, was the president of FC Barcelona, and after Qatar was chosen, the club signed a new agreement with the Qatar Foundation, funded by the Qatari government. Separately, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who had business ties with Qatar, invited Michel Platini—then president of the Union of European Football Associations and influential in the decision—to a dinner one month before the vote. In short, people who stood to benefit from a Qatar World Cup likely exerted influence through financial dealings and private meetings.

Lusail Iconic Stadium (Photo: Palácio do Planalto / Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

Subsequently, as many as 16 of the 22 people involved in the votes to select the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts were investigated or indicted over suspected corruption and other allegations.

Workers preparing for the tournament

Next, we look at the harsh labor conditions on the construction sites for the stadiums and other facilities used in the World Cup. Qatar has a population of about 2.8 million, the majority of whom are foreign workers. Specifically, more than 2 million migrant workers are employed, accounting for about 95% of the country’s workforce. GNV has also covered this reality in the article “A majority of the population are migrants: What is the reality in the Gulf states?” For the construction of 8 stadiums and facilities such as hotels for this World Cup, tens of thousands of migrant workers from abroad—including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan—are working today. Although the exact number is unknown, around about 30,000 people are said to be involved in stadium construction alone.

In this context, it has become clear that migrant workers engaged in preparations for the World Cup are in conditions that amount to abuse, which is a serious problem. Many have been forced to work long hours for low wages in extreme heat. In some cases, workers are fined for mistakes, or their food and water are restricted.

There are also reports of large numbers of migrant workers dying from overwork and other causes. According to an investigation by the UK’s The Guardian, at least 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar between 2010 and 2020. Because data from some countries were not included, the true toll may be even higher. Not all of these deaths can be attributed to harsh labor conditions, and there are no precise figures on how many of the deceased were working on World Cup-related projects. According to the organizers, 40 people died on stadium construction sites between 2014 and 2021, of which only 3 were considered “work-related” (（※２）). However, the International Labour Organization (ILO) argues that this data is an underestimate because it does not count deaths from heart attacks and respiratory failure—common outcomes of heat stress—as occupational fatalities.

Khalifa International Stadium under renovation (Photo: jbdodane / Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0])

Why can’t migrant workers escape such harsh conditions? A major factor is the widely used “kafala system” in the Middle East. The kafala is a sponsorship-based employment regime that legally binds migrant workers to their employers. Under this system, workers may have their passports confiscated and cannot change jobs or leave the country without their employer’s permission, thereby enabling abuse. In 2020, reforms effectively allowed workers to change jobs without employer consent, and the kafala system was largely abolished in Qatar. In practice, however, abuse of workers is said to persist.

Another issue arose when the Qatari government deported migrant workers who protested unpaid wages. In August 2022, more than 60 workers gathered in front of a construction company’s office. Some said they had not been paid for 7 months. The protest was deemed to violate public order laws, and some participants were detained or deported. It remains to be seen whether appropriate remedies will be provided to migrant workers who were treated unfairly.

Achieving carbon neutrality?

Next are environmental issues. Qatar stated it would make this World Cup the first-ever carbon-neutral tournament, claiming as much. Carbon neutrality means that emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO₂ are balanced by absorption, resulting in a net-zero footprint. To that end, Qatar says it has taken measures such as powering lighting and cooling systems around venues with solar energy, using recycled materials in stadium construction, and installing irrigation systems that reuse water in large new parks around facilities. To reduce car use, the country has also expanded public transportation such as buses and a metro system, and deployed electric buses. A 2020 report announced that 16,000 trees and 1.2 million square meters of turf had been planted for carbon absorption, and that the newly built stadiums far exceed FIFA’s certification requirements.

While these steps look promising, critics say the tournament is far from carbon neutral at this stage. The nonprofit Carbon Market Watch argued in a report that Qatar’s projected emissions are likely underreported. The report estimated that emissions from building new stadiums alone could be up to 8 times higher than Qatar’s figures.

A Qatar Airways aircraft (Photo: Luc Verkuringen / Flickr [CC BY-ND 2.0])

In May 2022, airlines including Qatar Airways announced they would run more than 160 additional flights per day to bring in fans from around the world. Given the significant climate impact of aviation, there are concerns that this could undermine the initial carbon-neutral plans.

Moreover, Qatar is known for very high per-capita CO₂ emissions. In 2020, emissions were about 37 tons per person, the 1st highest in the world. Another indicator is “Earth Overshoot Day,” calculated by the Global Footprint Network as the day when “human demand” exceeds “the amount of resources the Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate” in a given year (definition). In other words, it is the date on which humanity is considered to have used all the resources available for that year. It is also calculated by country, indicating the date if everyone in the world lived like the people of that country. In the 2022 analysis already released, the global date was July 28, while Qatar’s was the earliest in the world, February 10. Aiming for carbon neutrality in preparing and running the World Cup is important, but attention must also be paid to the broader environmental footprint Qatar creates year-round.

Diplomacy and the World Cup

Lastly, we look at regional dynamics around Qatar. In 2017, 4 countries—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt—declared they would sever ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism, triggering a diplomatic crisis. Reasons cited included Qatar’s friendly relations with Iran, a rival of Saudi Arabia, and its support for the Muslim Brotherhood（※３）. Qatar denied supporting terrorism. As part of the rupture, its only land border, with Saudi Arabia, was closed; Qatari aircraft were barred from entering airspace; and ships flying the Qatari flag or carrying goods to Qatar were denied docking at many ports. With trade severely restricted, Qatar was forced to strengthen trade routes with Iran and Turkey. As conditions for lifting the measures, the quartet demanded that Qatar downgrade relations with Iran, close a Turkish military base in Qatar, and shut down Al Jazeera, the country’s main news outlet, among other steps, but Qatar did not comply.  

Later, with mediation by Kuwait and the United States, the “Al-Ula Declaration” was announced at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in January 2021, and the rupture was resolved. At one point, even the hosting of the World Cup appeared in jeopardy; a UAE security official said the Qatar crisis would end if the country gave up hosting the tournament. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he did not believe the crisis threatened the event’s staging, but measures were temporarily taken, such as replacing the Qatari referees initially assigned to officiate World Cup qualifiers involving the UAE.

Coverage in Japan

We have examined various issues behind the World Cup. Beneath the festive mood, numerous debates have involved many people and organizations. But have these circumstances been sufficiently reported in Japan? We counted newspaper articles and analyzed them.

First, we looked at the past year, during which excitement about the tournament has grown, to see what kinds of articles were written. Specifically, we analyzed the number and content of articles focusing on the Qatar World Cup published by Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Yomiuri Shimbun over the one-year period from October 21, 2021 to October 20, 2022, one month before kickoff（※４）。

Loading…

At all 3 papers, around 70% of the coverage concerned sports—match results from World Cup qualifying and the state of the Japan national team. A handful of articles covered incidents such as team violations, quarantine periods and spectator numbers related to COVID-19, broadcast rights in Japan, and responses to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine (coverage).

By contrast, there were very few pieces that delved into social, environmental, or political issues like those mentioned above. Articles focusing in depth on the World Cup’s migrant labor issues numbered 1 in Mainichi Shimbun, 1 in Yomiuri Shimbun, and 0 in Asahi Shimbun. No paper ran articles focused on the feasibility of achieving carbon neutrality; climate considerations and Qatar’s measures were only touched on in the context of operations and stadium construction.

We then selected Asahi Shimbun from among the 3 papers and extended the analysis back to the period when moves toward choosing the 2022 host began to emerge, covering the 14 years from October 21, 2008 to October 20, 2022（※５）。 As noted, many issues gradually came to light over the 14 years since the bidding began, and we wanted to see how those issues were reported at the time.

Loading…

Of all 236 articles mainly about the World Cup, sports coverage accounted for 42.4%. The share was lower than in the first analysis because World Cup qualifying began in 2019, and prior to that there were no matches directly related to the Qatar tournament. In their place, 28 articles (15.3%) dealt with tournament operations such as the host decision and scheduling. Since Japan was also a candidate to host the 2022 tournament, stories about the bid and host selection, focusing on Japan’s actions, made up 15.3% of the total. Articles about corruption within FIFA related to the Qatar World Cup accounted for 7.2%, likely also because Japan had been a candidate. Even among pieces not counted because the World Cup was not the main topic, there were relatively many articles on corruption at FIFA.

Conversely, as before, articles that examined in detail social and environmental issues with less direct impact on Japan—such as Qatar’s migrant labor issues or the feasibility of carbon neutrality—were extremely limited in our sample. For environmental issues, some articles partially mentioned Qatar’s operational measures like stadium air-conditioning systems, but none discussed debates over whether carbon neutrality was being upheld. On social issues, we found an article in 2016 about moves to establish a FIFA labor monitoring body, and another in 2017 on FIFA’s comments regarding the Qatar crisis—just 2 articles in 14 years.

Toward reporting that also highlights social issues

The World Cup is widely covered in Japan every time, inspiring passion and emotion as a once-every-4-years mega-event. Yet, as a massive international event involving huge expenditures and revenues, it also generates the kinds of problems we have seen.

Japanese newspapers have done little reporting on these issues. While it is not wrong to focus heavily on sports when covering a major sporting event, given that the tournament affects many lives and human rights, we also need to pay attention to these serious issues.

※１　FIFA(in French, Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the International Federation of Association Football, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. 221 associations from countries and regions around the world are members. The FIFA Congress is the supreme body, and there is also the FIFA Council overseeing the organization, a General Secretariat, and 9 standing committees.

※２　Based on the Workers’ Welfare Progress Reports published in 2015, 2017, 2018, April 2019, December 2019, 2020, and 2021 by the organization Workers’ Welfare & Rights. Workers’ Welfare & Rights was established by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, which oversees the World Cup project.

※３　The Muslim Brotherhood is an organization active in countries across the Middle East and North Africa, promoting an ideological movement based on Sharia law. It engages in social welfare activities as well as politics. While Saudi Arabia and the UAE saw the Brotherhood as a threat to their domestic politics, Qatar was reportedly supportive as a way to increase its own influence.

※４　We used Asahi Shimbun Cross Search, Mainichi Shimbun Maisaku, and Yomiuri Shimbun Yomidas Rekishikan. We searched for articles whose headlines or body texts included “Qatar” plus either “W Cup” or “World Cup,” then extracted and analyzed those primarily about the Qatar World Cup.

※５　We used Asahi Shimbun Cross Search. Calculations followed the same criteria as in ※４.

Writer: Aoi Yagi

Graphics: Takumi Kuriyama