Outrage can be a useful tool. It can clarify, it can focus, it can raise awareness and it can spur to action. It’s less useful when it does a better job at making the outraged feel good about themselves than it does addressing whatever it is that outraged them in the first place.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
Plenty are outraged by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. it was awarded back in 2010 under circumstances which were dubious at best and corrupt at worst, (read the Garcia report and make up your own mind) by a 24-man FIFA executive council (of those 24, two were prevented from voting because they were under investigation for corruption; 14 were later banned, formally accused, indicted or convicted of corruption or ethical breaches). And, of course, it was awarded to a country with a very poor record when it comes to the treatment of migrant workers, whether in terms of pay, workplace conditions and safety, and basic employment rights.
These are reasons to be outraged. The question is how do you channel the outrage into something productive, with the tournament less than 10 days away?
And in that sense, the statement issued this week by the football associations of Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales goes some way towards cutting through the noise and focusing on what might result in meaningful and tangible long-term change. Because the simple truth of the matter is that in a little over five weeks the World Cup will be over, the circus will move out of town and very few people beyond those directly affected will spend much time thinking about a corrupt FIFA Executive Council in 2010 or the plight of migrant workers in Doha. (Or, for that matter, many of the other countries in the Gulf, where conditions are often worse).
If we do care, what can be done about it?
We’re not going to travel back in time to 2010 and award the World Cup to somebody else. That’s about as realistic as expecting qualified teams to boycott the tournament at this stage. It won’t happen, and, more importantly, it will do nothing for those affected.
