Should footballers refuse to play in the World Cup because of human rights abuses and institutionalised homophobia by the host nation? Of course not. They’re footballers, they play sport. Politics, equality, social and cultural considerations are really not in the domain of Harry Kane and Lionel Messi. They’ll make their point, wear their rainbow armbands and play the game.

Qatar bid to host the World Cup. And by ‘bid’ I actually mean bribed, coerced, corrupted and cheated their way to win the bid. The decision always stank. But then the corruption was proven, quantified, names named, heads rolled. So why was Qatar allowed to retain the tournament? They were the perpetrators, not the ‘victims’ of the corruption. But it was decided to let it stay. For reasons known only to FIFA.

No nation is totally ‘clean’ when viewed through the moral lens of other countries. I get that. If they choose to criminalise homosexuality, is that worse than America’s stance on abortion? Or Russia’s invasion of… well, everywhere nearby? Then there’s slavery history, always a useful tool to use against countries and lots of them.

But there’s the migrant worker deaths. Apparently 6,500. Most of whom have not received compensation for their families, and many who haven’t even received the wages they earned up to the day they fell off the scaffold, died in the collapse, got hit by a flying camel.

However, there is a rather sweet irony in all this.

Qatar wanted the World Cup to present an image of its good side to a world who really doesn’t know much about it. They wanted to present the fabulous stadia, the wonderful hotels, fabulous boulevards and all the other shit that vast amounts of money can buy. They wanted the tournament to shed light on how wonderful Qatar is.

But instead, they’ve had endless criticism for 12 years. Who knew, 10 years ago, that in divorce in Qatar the father always gets custody of the children, whatever the circumstances, with no rights at all to the mother? Who knew? But now we do. And we hate them just a little bit more. And we already hated them for the other shit going on there. And then, 3 days before the kick off, they ban beer at matches. Itself really no big deal, fans will always find ways to get drunk. But its the fact that this was part of their FIFA contract. And they could just change it at the last minute. Unilaterally. When most of the fans are already there. What other rules will they change?

Never mind, they can drink in the ‘fan zones’. £13 a pint of beer. Because it includes a ‘sin tax’. If they drink at their hotels they’ll pay up to £80 a pint. It wouldn’t bother me that much but its not about me. Its about consideration to the fans.

So rather than the intended ‘sportswashing’, Qatar has in fact laid itself bare to the world. And most of the world thinks they’re vile and horrible. Whereas before, no one gave that nation a single thought.

Happy Saturday

A xxxx