By Emma Somos
‘Football is life’ – that’s how I would describe the atmosphere on Coram Fields. With the 2022 World Cup coming up, four LSESU societies hosted their own tournament. I arrived at the Italy vs Spain match, and the Italians wanted to prove that they deserved a place in the World Cup – even though their national team couldn’t qualify for the past 8 years. The Italian team beat Spain 1-0. Afterwards, France lived up to the reputation of their world cup defending champion national team beating the Germans 3-0.
The ‘world cup feeling’ clearly arrived at LSE, but did the human rights concerns come along with it? Many media outlets in Western countries reported the huge human costs that made it possible for Qatar to host the world cup. Investigative journalists covering the issue of labour rights in Qatar in the past 10 years revealed that 6,500 migrant workers died due to poor working conditions and forced labour in Qatar since the country was awarded hosting rights (Guardian, 2022).
While Three Tuns is showing the World Cup games, the SU issued an accompanying statement encouraging donations to charities supporting LGBTQ+ rights. The LSESU LGBT+ society shared a post saying that they ‘don’t disavow any student’ choosing to watch the World Cup, however encouraged students to be aware of the complicity of FIFA in supporting a government that criminalizes homosexuality. In light of all this, I reported on if LSE students will boycott the World Cup. Is football still ‘life’ when it can cost human lives?
Interestingly, there was a gender divide at LSE. When I asked about students’ views on the Qatari world cup, girls were more likely to say that they will boycott watching the games. Some highlighted how there is not enough attention given to gender in football – specifically the pay gap. However, there were also girls who said they don’t usually follow football, so it won’t be a big sacrifice on their part not to watch. With boys only a few Italians said that they will boycott the world cup – partially influenced by the fact their country is not involved. Three male students said politics and sports should be separate.
I’ve heard many meaningful points regarding boycotting. Many guys distinguished between watching matches on TV versus travelling to Qatar. An American girl said that individual boycotting is not effective and misplaces the responsibility: it is not the fans who allowed these conditions and who will profit from the world cup. Many students echoed this by questioning why big brands haven’t pulled their sponsorships. A French guy highlighted his support for the Le Quotidien newspaper which refrains from covering the World Cup.
An Italian student forced me to reflect on my own position writing about the world cup, “the more you talk about it, the more attention Qatar gets”. On the other hand, someone told me that the media should highlight what is happening – both questioning where the fine line is between the responsibility of human rights reporting vs indirectly supporting an oppressive regime.
Some suggested that countries (especially Muslim countries) shouldn’t change their culture for the world cup. This is a point which can help us think why and how the West could position itself outside of such moralisation. Someone brought up the hopeful notion of how the ‘internationalisation’ of Qatar can bring democracy to the region, but I must ask: was it not internationalisation – the embeddedness of Qatari stakeholders in the football industry – that brought the World Cup to Qatar in the first place?
After Qatar announced the no alcohol policy at stadiums, LSE students were guided to leave the pitches by Coram Fields security after receiving complaints regarding children training next to students smoking and drinking. No beer in Qatar, no beer for us. Football really unites. Luckily we were allowed back on the pitch for the last game: the final between Italy and France. The French team became LSE World Cup champions beating Italy 1-0. The captain of the French team hoped that this win encourages their national team to take home the real trophy!
We shouldn’t give up on the uniting power of football. In a time when there is increasing recognition that football is intertwined with business and politics, LSE students lived up to their reputation of learning to become critical social scientists who also have a soft spot for the game. But football is more than just a game. Football is life.
Special thanks to Vivien Aurora Equestre for her exclusive comments and information about the event. Congrats for organising the first ever LSE world cup!
