The plans to hold the 2022 World Cup games in Qatar have basically been one giant disaster. Aside from the insanely hot conditions and the inhumane labor practices that are being used to get Qatar prepared for a World Cup, the city that Qatar plans to hold the World Cup final, Lusail, isn’t even on the map yet.
Some 20,000 workers — a small city unto itself — are building Lusail at an estimated cost of $45 billion. Developers hope to complete the city by 2019, three years before Qatar is scheduled to become the first Arab country to host the World Cup.
Of course, by the time that the city is built, the 2022 World Cup may be moved to a different location.
But all the city’s sparkling features will lose some of their luster if soccer’s big global tournament gets moved to another locale. Some activists have been pressuring FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, to reconsider Qatar for a variety of reasons: allegations of bribery, the country’s condemnation of homosexuality and the blistering summer heat, which can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
There also have been allegations that Qatar has used slave labor — mostly migrant workers from Nepal — to build Lusail’s infrastructure. A report last year by the Guardian, the UK newspaper, said at least 44 construction workers had died of heart attacks and other ailments in a two-month period of 2013 amid grueling conditions.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter acknowledged that it was a “mistake” to host the games in Qatar due to the heat, and while he stated that the games might have to be played during the winter to avoid the high temperatures, with public pressure mounting, moving the World Cup will likely be in play as well.
