Is there hypocrisy of constant criticism of Qatar (World Cup)?

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I was speaking with my friends, and we all noticed how much outrage is given to Qatar compared to other countries. Yes, Qatar has some awful laws and things going in their country but so do a lot of countries. There was little outrage given to Russia World Cup 2018 and the Olympics in China but when it comes to Qatar a lot of people are virtue signalling. For example, singers like Dua Lipa saying they are not going to perform in Qatar because of human rights. But they do concerts in Dubai which have similar laws to Qatar. I think a lot of people need to realize that Qatar own or have influence to a lot of things in London (Shard, Harrods, Savoy hotel, stock exchange etc..)

I was listening to the radio and a caller made an interesting point "what country is 100 percent perfect?" Even in 2026 USA, Mexico and Canada World Cup there are many issues there. USA- Gun issues, Abortion not always being legalised etc... Mexico - lot of drug cartels there. But I bet you they will not get the same outrage as Qatar.

Which country has been involved in more illegal wars and coups than any other? The USA.

I'm with you OP - it's tokenistic virtue signalling hypocritical bollocks!

Not again.

Well there’s a lot to unpick in this.

FIFA corruption is at the heart of the problem and this needs to be sorted out in terms of the specific footballing situation.

Personally I think the decision to give the WC to Russia was just as bad and I was unhappy at the time.

I protested against the war with Iraq for example so I don’t feel bad about criticising other countries for having illegal wars.

I think perhaps Qatar (and Russia) are at the extreme end of abusing their own citizens, and those of other countries (Qatar with slave labour of migrant workers, Russia attacking other counties), and so it attracts particular attention. Criticism of eg the USA is also justified but it’s interesting at what point we draw the line.

What Western countries need to do is look to ourselves as well as abroad and make sure our house is in order. Not instead but as well.

There also need to be some international institutions with some actual teeth that call nations to account but western countries also resist this because we don’t want to be held to account in our turn.

The answer isn’t to say “oh well Qatar you crack on because we’re just as bad”, but to reform ourselves too.

100% agree OP

I am watching the world cup but don't like how it's ruining Christmas. Apart from that I couldn't care less about the location or the virtue signalling. The stories about it are annoying constantly in the mainstream media. If they hate it then stop writing about it and getting clicks off it. Same with denouncing Twitter but then constantly writing articles about the latest news what's happening with Twitter (And they are all still "blue ticked" on Twitter, of course)

You keep harping on about it ruining Christmas

Others are concerned about the corruption of FIFA and Qatar hosting this event. Qatar is developing an extremely concerning influence on many aspects of our lives in my opinion - encouraged by our government. The fact that there are concerns about other countries doesn't render concerns about Qatar insignificant.

Right!?

How many times are we doing this exact same thread.

The issue with this World Cup is that it's far more obvious. Qatar is not a football fan nation, the climate is unsuitable and they didn't have any infrastructure so the carbon footprint is huge. Russia for all its faults do play football and do have stadia (never thought I'd defend Russia!) and yes I did criticise Russia but Qatar is a whole another level of unsuitability

Definitely!

The country where nearly everything we buy nowadays is made, including probably the phone you’re reading this on, has a far worse human rights record including:

• No democratic elections.
• Territorial ambitions on its neighbours.
• The forced “re-education” of religious minorities.
• Forced abortions
• More executions than the rest of the world combined.

But money talks, so we’re not allowed to mention the fact that it’s China.

Absolutely. Their bid should have been thrown out by FIFA in the first place. It wasn't, cos money.

I didn't say they were insignificant at all, I said it is annoying me how every single news piece or news website is constantly filled with stories about it all the time. People are allowed to personally feel annoyed by things.

Some people who think we should boycott Qatar because of its attitudes towards minorities would be upset if countries or people decided to boycott the UK if they decided that they didn't like our attitudes towards minorities.

You said you "couldn't care less about the location" and described expressing concerns as "virtue signalling". That looks like treating the issues as insignificant to me.

You are not getting what I am trying to tell you. I am saying that I don't think they are insignificant issues. I am also saying constantly reading about them is annoying me. The two can exist at the same time.

YABU

Qatar World Cup is the result of a corrupt and fraudulent process. The place is unsuitable in every way. It’s also super skeevey.

All the rest is just Whataboutery.

There was little outrage given to Russia World Cup 2018 and the Olympics in China but when it comes to Qatar a lot of people are virtue signalling.

I don’t agree, there was actually a lot of negative press around the World Cup in Russia.

People have a right to criticise the selection process. This isn't the first or last tournament to be tainted by FIFA corruption but it's outstandingly shocking that they still had this tournament proceed.

@Keyansier - please stop with your dismay about football taking over Christmas.

Christmas lights are up in every town I've visited so far, and Black Friday is a frequent story in the press at the moment. Go into a coffee shop or a pub and they'll have a Christmas menu on, even now (November) as I have already eaten from Christmas menus.

Just be glad that Tory politics is no longer prominent on the front pages!

There was little outrage given to Russia World Cup 2018 and the Olympics in China but when it comes to Qatar a lot of people are virtue signalling.
I'm not a football fan but I remember a lot of coverage about this since England were considered to have a high likelihood of winning.
Iirc they picked Qatar at the same time as Russia but it was considered even more controversial because of the lack of stadia and completely different climate meaning that the tournament couldn't be in summer for the first time. I believe that summer is considered a good time to play because footballers aren't playing for their clubs unlike the winter.

I'm fed up of the rainbow armband controversies and the fake concerns about LGBTQIA+ people in Qatar.

How about ridding football in The West of homophobia first?!!! How many gay pro footballers are there? How many out gay footballers are there in the U.K. in the 2nd and 3rd divisions? It's not because there are no gay men who play football - unless they've self-selected out earlier for their own safety and mental health.

Qatar has problems and I don't think the WC should have been held there. But the hypocrisy is nauseating.

And yes, the difference with Dubai is minimal but everybody is fine to go there for work and holidays.

Something Qatar has done really well is show a nice side to Islam. It's tried to show a human and humane side. A side that many, many people live by. Of course that's not been picked up by our media because there's apparently a narrative they are intent on following.

@gogohmm how do you mean Qatar aren’t a football fan nation? They are current title holders of the Asia Cup and have hosted it before. A lot of Qataris absolutely love football!

Qatar has a lot of issues however there have been vast improvements since they were awarded the World Cup - far stricter labour laws, labour courts for cases against employers not following these laws, no outside working from 11.30-3.30 in summer etc. There is still a lot to be done but progress is being made

I also don’t understand why so much has been made about the WC. Qatar held the World Athletics in 2017 and there was minimal outcry then!

I hardly know where to start...

I also agree with this.

Traditionally the World Cup has been hosted by a country with a big footballing culture and history. I remember that awarding it to the US (who hosted the 1994 tournament) was controversial because they didn't have either.

Since then, the hosts have been (in order) France, S Korea / Japan, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and .... Qatar.

All except the last have a massive footballing culture and, SA excepted, have produced lots of top footballers.

They moved the tournament to suit the location.

It's got the most unsuitable climate for football that you can imagine, except for Antarctica.

There was corruption involved in the vote.

They had build all the stadia, which will be white elephants as soon as the tournament is over.

On the usual measures there's simply no way what the Qatar bid should have had a show.

I think for all these reasons and others Qatar have drawn a big target on themselves.

Contrast that with China getting the Olympics: China is a big country with a lot of success at that event so I don't think there's any comparison really. Same with Russia and football.