Boycott, concern or expectation: the Qatar World Cup divides fans
Boycott to “send a message” or travel to Qatar to “see for yourself” what is happening? Fans around the world approach the first World Cup in an Arab country with concerns, but the skepticism of many European fans is less palpable in other parts of the world. “I couldn’t throw a party in a graveyard”, pointed out Fabien Bonnel, a faithful fan of the French national team, member of the group ‘Irrésistibles Français’. Referring to the number of deaths in the infrastructure works for the tournament, difficult to quantify, this fan summarizes with this phrase his position of total boycott of the tournament. “I’m not even going to watch a single game. If we are hundreds of thousands of us doing it, it will send a message, maybe it will have an impact on the audiences, the sponsors and the whole FIFA business,” he added. This individual decision is not transferred to that of the group of his fans, who have decided not to position themselves. What Fabien Bonnell, Many fans have chosen to boycott the tournament, especially in Germany, where several ultra groups, including those of Borussia Dortmund, have shown their position against Qatar in recent days through banners in the stadiums. Same situation for ‘3LionsPride’an English fan group for LGBTQ+ fans, which will not travel: “We hope to remain silent as FIFA encourages us to respect a culture that does not accept voices, calling for ‘a clean event without homosexuals or disturbers’. The hypocrisy is disgusting.” These resignations have not prevented the organizing committee from reaching the plenary session, selling 2.89 million tickets out of 3.1 available, according to the balance of mid-October.
Despite the ethical or budgetary concerns, the fans will travel massively to Qatar from Latin America, with 70,000 Mexicans and 30,000 Argentines.
Source: Ambito
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