World’s Worst Human Rights Abusers Line Up to Support Qatar World Cup

The Mideast Islamist state of Qatar has faced years of criticism for its widely documented human rights abuses and accusations of bribery after FIFA awarded it the hosting rights to this year’s World Cup soccer tournament.

The U.S. Justice Department formally accused FIFA of accepting a bribe from the small emirate, resulting in Qatar defeating experienced host America. Since then, reports estimate that thousands of workers have died in unsafe conditions building World Cup facilities, human rights activists and journalists have revealed extensive persecution of women and LGBT people, and foreign governments have warned fans they may be subject to police brutality if suspected of being gay or wearing a cross.

As the tournament closes in on the culmination of its first week, Qatari officials have attempted to paint the disgust and concern surrounding the human rights situation in the country as a niche issue only of interest to Western countries. Attempting to aid in fostering that impression are a rogues’ gallery of some of the world’s most prolific human rights abusers, including nations currently engaging in religious persecution, detention of political prisoners, torture, killing, and genocide.

“The reality is that the world is looking forward to this celebration,” Qatari Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the French newspaper Le Monde this month when asked about the country’s detractors, insisting humans complaints were coming from “a very small number of people.” In a separate interview, he called human rights concerns “very racist.”

The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani claimed that the global concerns about his country were “unprecedented” and implied that racism against Arab states was to blame.

Among the nations whose leaders, spokesmen, or state media outlets have agreed with Qatar’s position are allies in China, Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela, nations notorious for abusing the rights of its people. In Qatar’s own neighborhood, the nation managed to secure the support of Iran, a Shiite Islamist autocracy, and its arch-rival, Saudi Arabia, in putting aside differences to cheer for their respective teams at the World Cup.

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the widespread strong criticism that the State of Qatar has faced after it was announced that it would host the 22nd edition of the Soccer World Cup,” Nicolás Maduro’s socialist dictatorship proclaimed last week, “which has deepened as it approaches the date of its celebration, and that undermines the hard work done by the Gulf nation.”

The statement, published through Maduro’s foreign ministry, insisted that sports are a “platform used to transmit messages of peace, brotherhood and understanding among the countries of the world,” and thus human rights are an inappropriate topic of discussion.

Venezuela, a fellow OPEC country along with Qatar, is currently in the crosshairs of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over years of abuses against anti-socialist protesters including the mass killing of children and the use of torture and rape against political dissidents.

Like Venezuela, the government of China, a nation currently engaging in genocide, dismissed “so-called human rights” as a legitimate concern when granting lucrative sporting contracts to rogue nations.

“[R]egrettably, some people in the US and the West have turned a blind eye to Qatar’s efforts,” the state-run Global Times Chinese propaganda outlet lamented in an editorial on Sunday, the first day of the tournament. “Instead, they once again brought up the so-called human rights and other issues to criticize Qatar … Therefore, this year’s World Cup is considered the ‘most politicized’ World Cup.”

The Global Times elsewhere in its pages boasted that 70 percent of World Cup merchandise for sale in Qatar was made in China and claimed that, despite China not qualifying to play the game, “Chinese wisdom, strength contribute hugely” to the World Cup.

The government of Russia – which hosted the 2018 World Cup and was also accused of bribing FIFA to do so – elevated comments from its ambassador to Qatar celebrating the event on Monday.

“I would like to reassure all the skeptics – the atmosphere in Qatar is very friendly, Qatar’s residents are well-disposed towards fans from all countries,” Russian Ambassador to Doha Sergey Petrov was quoted as saying in the Russian news outlet Tass.

Petrov went on to call human rights activists “hysterical … for nothing.”

“In my opinion, every fan coming to [another] country should respect its traditions, laws and customs. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, I think, here the Westerners are wrong,” Petrov said.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin personally contacted Qatari leaders last year to congratulate the country on winning its hosting bid and offer help in June. Putin repeated his offer to help in October during a conversation with the emir.

“We are also doing everything we can in terms of transferring the experience of preparing for the World Cup, you know this, we just had the opportunity to talk about it with you,” Putin reportedly told Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.”

While Russia had a clear role in passing on hosting duties to Qatar and thus discussing the controversy, the Communist Party of Cuba has no discernable stake in the tournament and issued a statement on support to Qatar this weekend, anyway. Cuba is not participating in the World Cup and has not traditionally been a global soccer powerhouse.

“We salute the brotherly Qatari nation and government for the great effort realized to organize this appointment, the first time in an Arab nation,” Cuban External Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in a small but supportive statement on Sunday.

Two of the Middle Eastern nations participating in the tournament with some of the worst human rights records have also gone out of their way to support Qatar. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called the top Qatari diplomat last week to express gratitude for hosting the Iranian team.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi – believed to be responsible for a 1988 massacre that killed as many as 30,000 people – called the Qatari Emir in April to personally offer “whatever assistance it needs to better and more magnificently host” the tournament, the state outlet PressTV revealed at the time.

In a perhaps more shocking development, Saudi Arabia has also offered its full-throated support. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman traveled to Qatar to attend Sunday’s Opening Ceremonies, an unthinkable visit for years following Riyadh’s decision to cut ties with Qatar in 2017 in response to Doha allegedly getting too cozy with Iran. At the peak of their tensions, in 2018, Saudi Arabia reportedly considered a plan to saw the nation of Qatar off of the Arabian peninsula.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Qatar finally last year, cementing a thaw after extensive talks in a desert summit focused on the concerns of neighboring Gulf states that Doha was emboldening Iran too much.

The crown prince was back in town on Sunday, smiling and laughing alongside the emir of Qatar.

Bin Salman later sent a letter to the emir that “expressed profound thanks to and appreciation of the Emir of Qatar for the warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to him on the success of the opening ceremony of the World Cup,” a public endorsement of the country as host.

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