The Organizing Committee of the FIFA World Cup has become obliged to deal seriously with the new challenge facing the State of Qatar, following the expansion of the list of European teams that will participate in the “OneLove” campaign to promote integration and anti-discrimination.
The England team announced its joining the campaign, which includes the teams of the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Switzerland and Wales, whose teams qualified for the World Cup scheduled in Qatar, in addition to the participation of Sweden and Norway in the campaign in the framework of the European Nations League.
The ‘One Love’ campaign was set up in the Netherlands in 2020 ‘to ensure that all football fans have at least one thing in common (their love for football) and to speak out once morest any form of discrimination’.
The German Federation explained that the “One Love” initiative emerged from a working group of the European Football Association “UEFA”, responsible for studying “issues related to labor rights and human rights in Qatar until the 2022 World Cup.”
Doha faces criticism regarding the situation of migrant workers following publishing human rights reports that recorded violations of workers’ rights, especially those who contributed to the construction of sports facilities that will host the World Cup, which will start on November 20 and continue until December 18.
On September 12, Qatar organized a human rights forum in which it affirmed its commitment to “combating discrimination and intolerance wherever they are, inside and outside the sporting context.”
Reem bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah, head of the Human Rights Committee, said her country is keen to “respect the state of cultural diversity for the World Cup audience, within the framework of its keenness to perpetuate the values of social peace, respect and acceptance of the other.”
She added that “what the Qatari society expects in return from this audience is a consideration of its values and customs.”
World champion France and seven other European teams will wear heart-shaped badges featuring six parallel stripes, their colors recalling the LGBT flag, in a message once morest discrimination.
The Dutch Football Association, which is spearheading the campaign, chose the six colors to “represent all legacies, backgrounds, genders and sexual identities”.
Qatar stated earlier that same-sex relations are forbidden and are punished according to the laws of the country, and asked all participants and expatriates to respect Qatari and Arab traditions in general.
Human Rights Watch said Friday that “all football federations should call on the Qatari authorities to ensure that no one is discriminated once morest on the basis of their gender or sexual orientation, regardless of whether they are Qatari or foreign, during or following the World Cup.”
And the British newspaper Daily Mail reported that FIFA has not yet given the aforementioned teams permission to wear any armbands in support of LGBT people or once morest discrimination, although England wrote to them on the matter.
