John Oliver explains some of the reasons why FIFA sucks & why the World Cup should not be in Qatar
Click to viewOn the season finale of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver discuses a few of the reasons that FIFA should not have been awarded the World Cup to Qatar including:
- rumors that some of the officials who voted for Qatar to host each received $1 million bribes
- journalists being harassed/threatened
- the weather which is so hot that the World Cup was moved to November for the safety of athletes and spectators
- officials pledging to build air conditioned outdoor stadiums/scientists suggesting they could build remote controlled artificial clouds to provide shade at stadiums
- Doha did not have the infrastructure necessary to host such a large event and had to build a new airport, a new metro system, 100 new hotels, and 9 new stadiums
- Qatar recruited hundreds of thousands of laborers from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh for the manual labor required to build all of these new things
- workers had to pay $4000 in recruitment fees before coming to Qatar and upon arrival found brutal working conditions: they worked in 120+ degree heat, were trapped by the kafala system, could not change jobs or leave the country without obtaining their employer's permission (many workers had their passports taken away), and were housed in appalling conditions (8 workers sharing 1 room, 150 workers in a building with 2 bathrooms, no showers, 600 workers sharing 2 kitchens, bedbugs, overflowing toilets)
- women's rights issues (women need permission from their male guardians to travel abroad, work, marry, etc., sex outside of marriage is illegal, pregnant women must present a marriage certificate to receive prenatal care)
- LGBTQ+ rights (sex between men is illegal and can result in up to seven years in prison)