First World Cup in the Islamic World
Clash of Civilizations Human Rights Controversy
The Tokyo Olympics last year and the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year required strict epidemic prevention. In contrast, this World Cup in Qatar, epidemic prevention is no longer an issue. In Hong Kong, the government announced last month to relax the anti-epidemic measures. There is no limit to the business hours of bars and restaurants. The industry can welcome the World Cup fans in time. The question of whether to drink alcohol was discussed again on the eve of the competition. Alcohol is strictly prohibited in Karta. Although this year’s World Cup is sponsored by brewers, the official drink is “zero alcohol” beer. In response to the presence of tens of thousands of foreign fans, the authorities originally approved the sale of beer in a limited area around the stadium at a specified time, but according to the latest news yesterday, Calta decided to ban the sale.
This year’s World Cup is held for the first time in the Islamic world. There are many controversies outside the stadium, and the issue of alcohol prohibition is just one of them. Western human rights organizations criticize Qatar’s foreign worker sponsor system for oppression and exploitation, often causing work-related fatalities. In addition, Qatar is a country that criminalizes same-sex sexual behavior. Violators can be imprisoned for 5 years. Western public opinion is concerned about the rights and interests of sexual minorities, and even worried Homosexuals who went to the local area to watch the waves got into trouble with officials. Players and sponsors of many Western national teams during the final week stated that they would speak out on and off the field in different ways; The hosting by a small country also implied that the right to host was obtained through dishonorable means.
The series of controversies surrounding the Qatar World Cup involve many elements and need to be discussed separately. Qatar’s foreign labor system does have major problems. Since many competition venues are built for the World Cup, FIFA has the responsibility to follow up on the situation of foreign workers. Regarding the number of industrial accidental deaths of foreign workers in recent years, the official statements of Qatar and Western human rights organizations are far from each other, and the truth is not easy to ascertain. However, some Western commentators admit that Qatar has improved in terms of foreign worker protection, minimum wages and labor rights in recent years. And hosting the World Cup was the catalyst. Speaking of bribery for the right to host, in the past 20 years, there have been repeated scandals in both the Olympics and the World Cup. From the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in the United States to last year’s Tokyo Olympics, there have been incidents of buying tickets. Corruption in the international sports arena must be eliminated, but it is not appropriate to only target individual countries.
As for the treatment of sexual minorities and the controversy over alcohol prohibition, cultural differences are involved. For European football fans, watching football and drinking is “part of football culture”, but in various villages, if the culture of “watching and drinking” is not accepted in a certain place, visitors should also go to the village to do as the Romans do. The issue of sexual minorities is relatively complicated, involving not only customs, but also ideological disputes. The Western world and the Islamic world have very different views. Fundamental differences may not be resolved, but they can be resolved through equal dialogue, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation. During the event, the host and the guests kept their points Disputes can be avoided; criticizing others on and off the court will not help communication and dialogue, but may deepen hostility between different civilizations.
Clash of civilizations is not inevitable, but it is evident in recent years that the conflict between different civilizations is intensifying, which in turn reflects the changes in the world situation. After the end of the Cold War, the West was filled with optimism, believing that the end of history, Western liberal ideology is set in one, internationalization is Westernization, other countries or civilizations can only follow this path if they want to prosper, and the only threat to the world is terrorist extremist organizations . This atmosphere led to a greater degree of tolerance for cultural diversity in the 20 years after the Cold War. During this period, the right to host the World Cup and the Olympics was repeatedly handed over to non-Western countries, which is actually a reflection. In order to encourage the development of football around the world and promote the “democratization of football”, South Africa, Russia and Qatar successively hosted the World Cup; China and Brazil hosted the Olympic Games for the first time, embodying the same concept.
However, in the past ten or eight years, the Western world has experienced repeated political and economic crises. The sense of crisis has eroded self-confidence, populist xenophobia has risen, and other civilizations outside the Western camp are increasingly regarded as challenges or even threats. The grudge between the West and Islamic civilization has lasted for thousands of years, and fear and hatred have existed in the West for a long time. This year’s World Cup has a lot of disputes. Qatar and many Muslims feel that there is a smell of racism behind it. Even South Africa has commentators on Qatar’s experience. “Empathy”. Regarding the World Cup in Qatar, Denmark was one of the most prominent critics, and the local fear and resentment is also one of the best in Europe. Some Muslims believe they also remember that Denmark supported the US invasion of Iraq in 2003; in France, there are paper media Even more blatantly published hate cartoons, depicting Qatari players as terrorists. European football powerhouses have argued that “a small football country has no right to host the World Cup”, and the arrogance is also ready to come out.
Leaders are not politicians
Fans from all over look forward to a good wave
Of course, many people care about the rights and interests of labor and sexual minorities out of good intentions, but as the England team leader Schiffkey said in his response, some things are not the most effective when they are said publicly and loudly. Help bring about change. God’s to God, Caesar’s to Caesar, politics to politics, football to football. The famous coach of Premier League club Liverpool, Gao Pu, was recently asked about the Qatar World Cup controversy. He said that everyone can have their own opinions, but the team leader is not a politician. The responsibility of the players is to play well in every game. Go to the game well. The world’s 5 billion viewers are eagerly awaiting the World Cup. I believe most fans are still most concerned about the performance of each team, whether the game is exciting, and which stars will emerge, rather than political statements on and off the field.
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