Human rights in the soccer community

 Eli Webb

Human Rights in Soccer

Soccer can help us focus on human rights and discrimination around the globe. The book we read by Franklin Foer, How Soccer Explains the World, pointed out many issues and characteristics of the world, and in each chapter he focused on different aspects of the world that soccer could help explain. I would like to focus on the general conversation of discrimination that Foer mentioned in his chapters “How soccer explains the pornography of sects” and “How soccer explains the Jewish question”. Both chapters discuss the sectors of team support and where rivalries came from, and for a little snippet, the conversation about race/religion in the soccer world. 

The focus on this blog post is the recent endeavors by the soccer community on human rights and discrimination across the globe. Foer wrote his book in 2004, yet the discussion about inclusion and race is still in the news today. Specifically this week (Dec. 1), I got a notification on my phone about beIN Sports, a major soccer media group, having one of their show guests go on an anti-gay rant about the Premier League and their movement of rainbow laces. BeIN Sports is also Qatar-owned, where the next World Cup will be, and in Qatar, homosexuality is illegal. Another example of soccer’s role in all this is the No Room For Racism campaign in the Premier League, as well as many other players from different leagues kneeling for a couple of seconds at the beginning of each match. These are just a few examples of how soccer is in the middle of many human rights issues, yet how are they coping with it? 

Racism has always been a problem in soccer, with fans throwing racist objects at players when they score to chants about players' upbringings, yet with this movement, hopefully they can change it. I spoke to a British friend of mine that said he really thinks it is making a difference. Even if some people continue being racist in the stadiums, it is raising awareness on the issue that will one day be stopped entirely as punishments continue to be more severe to those who participate in the shenanigans. I believe soccer has done the best it can versus the racist actions of fans, yet the conversation about Qatar is still very shaky. Qatar is hosting a World Cup when they did not have the proper facilities, they forced laborers to build the stadiums in the dying heat, and homosexuality is illegal. All three of these are reasons Qatar should not be hosting a World Cup, especially in the eyes of a homosexual soccer player who might fear for their life, yet FIFA gave it to them anyway because of money. How should the soccer community behave at the Qatar World Cup? We had a conversation about it in class. Some said the players could resist going but then risk the loss of sponsorships. Teams could forfeit their spot. Yet these solutions won't unfold because it is the World Cup, the greatest tournament in the world, so at the end of the day, it seems soccer might not care much about human rights, or at least FIFA, as they would rather take money then place the World Cup in an inclusive country.

My point in this whole blog post was not to find a solution, or explain what the right decision to do is, but it was to spread awareness of the cosmic influence soccer has on the world and how people in the community can help those be discriminated against. The No Room For Racism campaign offers support and spreads awareness of the malpractices of some fans. The Qatar World Cup will be a staple of whether money or human rights is more important to the players and teams attending. If the United States wants to send a message to Qatar do they go? Soccer is a worldwide sport, the most popular across the globe, so obviously human rights and global issues will translate onto the pitch and maybe be addressed for change.

Comments

  1. Ellie StephensonDecember 5, 2021 at 9:53 AM

    Great post! I do have one question though. Do you think that the issue of the promise of money drowning out human rights violations translates from the world of soccer to the field of international relations? Is international relations so tied up in personal interest that it refuses to address human rights violations, or is this only the case in soccer?

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  2. Eli WebbDecember 6, 2021 at 10:34 AM

    Ellie thank you for your question. I am a bit of a pessimist when it comes to people's motivations, so I believe that money does not just effect the soccer community but the entire international relations conversation. As much as I hope people help others out of the kindness of their heart, most IR solutions are based on the loss/gain of money. It is highlighted in soccer because soccer is a business, like every other sport, but many decisions about human rights violations is based on the gain or loss in economic profit and relations. Soccer teams will travel to Qatar for sponsorships and the money, just like plane companies will fly people there, world leaders will attend, and there will try and be a cover up of the maltreatment of people in Qatar.

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