I spent a large part of my childhood in Brazil, a country that breathes and lives Futebol, and this is of course where I developed an appreciation for the beauty of the game as well as a bitterness for its darker sides.
Since there is so much money in football, corruption pervades every aspect of the sport.
The World Cup, the biggest and most popular sporting event in the world, was held in Qatar because of bribes. It is a country that lacks love for the game and does not have the infrastructure for such an event but has buckets of oil money. Tom Blue Irish Mirror Article “’Absolute disgrace’ – Jamie Carragher lets rip…” and Tariq Banga and Kevin Draper “US says FIFA officials bribed to award World Cups to Russia and Qatar” New York Times article discusses severe consequences of this decision.
The World Cup is the biggest event in Futebol, and has been held every four years since 1930. It brings people from all over the world together in one host country, where Futebol and different cultures are celebrated. Unfortunately, this time we saw the World Cup held in Qatar, a country that has never been recognized before in football. It has a smaller population and size than most US states, so most of the world knew something fishy was going on when Qatar was chosen to host the World Cup in 2010. It’s widely known that FIFA officials are very corrupt, but we’ve never had proof. We now know for a fact that the officials who voted for Qatar were bribed.
In The New York Times, Tariq Banga and Kevin Draper explain how the US Department of Justice became involved in the FIFA Qatar corruption case. In their article, they feature a copy of an official Department of Justice document that states, “U.S. prosecutors openly disclosed on Monday details about payments paid to five members of the FIFA Board of Directors prior to the 2010 vote to select Russia and Qatar as hosts..”
Most of these officials have now been removed from office, but it is too late.
Qatar is a really small country and does not have the infrastructure for the amount of tourism that the World Cup attracts, which caused this to be the most expensive World Cup ever, with a cost of 220 billion. It cost him more than the last ten World Cups combined!
Many of the stadiums used in the World Cup had to be built from scratch by migrant workers desperate for work. These workers have endured the most appalling working conditions, Tom Blue noted: “At least 6,500 migrant workers are believed to have died since Qatar began building the infrastructure for the tournament, although this has been denied by the organizers.”
Are we shocked that migrant workers are being subjected to this in a country with serious human rights problems? Imagine that the loved ones of the worker at home do not know if they are alive or not, because they do not even have the decency to acknowledge the death of the worker. I’m an immigrant, so I’m somewhat aware of how bad these countries treat us. However, the treatment these migrant workers received in Qatar was inhumane. The sad thing is that now that these stadiums are used for only a few World Cup matches, most of them will be destroyed because the cost of maintaining them is too high. All those lives lost for what? a few games.
This World Cup had a detrimental effect on the athletes. Since Qatar is mostly desert, they had to move the World Cup to winter, as the average temperature during the summer in Qatar is 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The World Cup usually takes place in the months of June and July, which is the best time for players because Futebol’s regular season ends in May, giving them time to rest and recover from injuries.
With the World Cup taking place in the winter in the middle of Futebol’s season, this caused a congestion in the season, with matches almost every three days to make up for matches missed during the World Cup in Qatar. Speaking from experience, playing every three days is a nightmare: your body doesn’t have enough time to rest and heal, causing you to get injured easily. Tom Blue noted in his article for the Irish Mirror, “It gets taken to the situation it is now in the middle of the season, and players who spend their entire lives dreaming of playing in a World Cup are not going to play.”
Americans may not realize how deep football is in some people’s lives. But I remember when I was a kid, Ivory Coast qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2010. At that time, the nation was engaged in a deep civil war, but the national team players asked the country to stop fighting and come together as one, at least until the World Cup is over. And you think the civil war has stopped until the World Cup is over.
So when players grow up dreaming and working hard every single day to be a pro, only to have their dreams cut short by a minor injury, it’s really sad. The World Cup is supposed to be the pinnacle of a nation’s footballing might, but how can that happen when so many stars are left at home cheering for their team rather than supporting them? Players only had a week off after the World Cup before Futebol resumed. This is just a week off after a grueling tournament; Sometimes people forget that athletes are still human beings and not machines that can play every week of the year.
With all that said, this World Cup was indeed one of the most exciting and memorable tournaments in recent memory, with many unexpected results and inspiring performances by underdogs and established powers alike. It was a joy to watch Morocco make history as the first African nation to reach the semi-finals, and to see South Korea and Japan conduct fairy tales that captured the hearts of fans around the world. I even saw my hero and idol carry his country on his back and Argentina crowned the winners over France in one of the toughest finals yet.
In the end Futebol won. But it is impossible to ignore the greed and corruption of FIFA officials and the questionable decision to host the event in Qatar. While some might argue that “politics do not belong in football” or that “it is important to bring the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time,” the fact remains that the appalling treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and its impact cannot justify players who have had to compete in the middle of their club seasons. .
The World Cup should be a celebration of the beautiful game and a way to share culture, a way to bring people together, not a platform for corruption and greed. The World Cup must be held in a country that respects the well-being and preparation of players, celebrates and values the rich history and culture of Futebol, but can also handle the influx of tourists. Australia, Argentina and Morocco are all worthy contenders to host this illustrious occasion and continue to showcase the elegance and diversity of Futebol on a global scale.
With the United States being co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, I hope we can make the most of it, as futbol is slowly but surely growing in our nation.
Louise Macedo teaches at Norwalk Community College.
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