Why I can't work in construction and watch the Qatar 2022 World Cup

In 2018 I boycotted the World Cup for the first time. Four years later, and despite my deep desire to watch Saka and Martinelli tear up the world stage, I will not be tuning into Qatar 2022.

Knowing that around 6,500 workers have died in the construction of Qatar 2022 stadia, the tournament sits in direct conflict with my professional commitment to safety on major projects. To focus on the number of deaths alone is to gloss over the various and multiple tales of modern-day slavery and punishing conditions for those who survived their jobs on a daily basis. The number of lost time injuries, and likely life changing impacts for construction workers is an untold part of the story.

It didn't have to be this way. Above is a picture from a visit to the Emirates Stadium during construction back in 2004. A childhood dream realised. My father was the Health and Safety Manager for one of the large sub-contractors, his three-year job a defining career highlight. When he wasn't complaining(!), Dad would regularly tell stories of the various blend of domestic and migrant workers from across the globe taking on the daily challenges of constructing a 60,000 seater stadium. I even played in a Christmas 5 a-side tournament in Holloway with the site labourers, teams generally split down national lines of Brits, Irish, Polish, Indian, Serb...

Large migrant workforces in construction are common. 6,500 deaths during construction is not.

The Emirates (0), Wembley (1) and Spurs' (0) new grounds were built with one fatality between them. One too many. The London Olympics, a comparable undertaking - zero deaths. Major civils projects are routinely built globally without fatalities. We know how to build safely. It is a fundamental investment in people and processes that prioritises safety over programme and cost. The treatment of labour in the construction of Qatar 2022 was a choice.

I choose not to endorse or ignore those deaths despite loving football. I don't expect nor judge other football fans for watching the tournament. The average person may only get a chance to watch 18-20 world cups in their life. Football is a sport and shouldn't require this level of political engagement by your average punter. The awarding of the original tournament was a major failure by FIFA and national governments; but what I find worse is that no one stepped in to change the safety culture during construction of this ill-fated world cup when the first alarm bells rang.

To make one bad decision is forgivable. To stand by and watch the death count rack up year by year and remain silent is not.

Below is my original post from 2018, unedited. While some of the language I'd change now, and definitely the length, it demonstrates the moral dilemmas football fans are being posed in a totally avoidable way.

======= ORIGINAL 2018 POST =========

WHY I CAN’T ENJOY WATCHING ENGLAND TONIGHT, OR ANY OF THE WORLD CUP

The World Cup has provided some of my most memorable football moments outside of supporting Arsenal. Watching that Bergkamp goal in France ‘98. Sitting in stunned silence with my classmates at 9am on a Friday morning, lessons cancelled, to watch Ronaldinho embarrass Seamen. The Zidane headbutt.7-1.??

?I love football. I love how the World Cup brings people together to share in these truly global moments of skill, pomp and occasional clangers.?Yet this summer I feel I have no choice but to boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia. And trust me, it’s not because I enjoy being a social pariah.

?What does a boycott mean in practice? It means I won’t watch a single match of the World Cup, nor highlights on TV or the Internet. I will also avoid indulging any of the official partners with my cash - not that I was planning on buying a Hyundai anytime soon, but avoiding using a contactless Visa card to buy a can of coke on a summer lunch break requires a bit more willpower.

?Already I’ve felt the ostracising effect of not enjoying this year’s tournament. I spent Saturday awkwardly facing opposite the television while my Dad watched a game, missing out on the usual bonding of our main shared interest. I’ve had to relegate myself to bystander in conversations of great goals, and dodgy VAR decisions, unable to watch the replays and form my own opinion. Tonight I am unsure whether to accept an invitation for a long overdue catch up with a close friend because I don’t want to be that awkward man in the room who isn’t engaged in cheering on England, ruining the vibe.

?But despite the social repercussions, I cannot ignore the unease I’ve felt in the build up to the tournament, with each new FIFA related scandal revealing a rotting core at the heart of our beautiful game. I felt both bewildered and infuriated watching the corruption scandal surrounding Russia and Qatar’s winning bids unravel (not that England were faultless). And equally angry that despite 24 convictions so far, FIFA are relying on the excitement of the tournament, our collectives hopes for our national teams, to relegate our focus away from the unpleasant realities that underpin this tournament.

?And for me, maybe I could have overlooked the corruption to enjoy the tournament too. Suspend belief to selfishly enjoy an England team that finally has an exciting style of play, a fluid attack that could upset some decent opposition. I won’t pretend I’m flawless or not hypocritical and inconsistent in my political actions and beliefs. But I cannot continue to consciously ignore the moral and criminal corruption of FIFA, that only deepens with each new story of Russian fans racially abusing players as recently as March; of teams preparing strategies for the probable moment when their players of colour get racially abused; of Danny Rose asking his parents to remain in the UK for fear of racial abuse in the stands and the cities. It is intolerable that a truly global tournament is held in a country where the threat of racial violence is significant.

?Now I don’t presume to claim any nation does not have its share of racists, homophobes or generally nasty people. The situation is always far more nuanced; and applying broad strokes to an entire population is unfair. There are Russians trying to combat the ultras, and the chance for Russian citizens to attend a World Cup in their home country is an incredible opportunity (whether it’s affordable is a totally different question). Yet there are many countries around the world, who love football, where players can perform without the fear of racism. How can FIFA justify awarding Russia the tournament with such well documented instances of intolerance??

?Yet still FIFA chose to ignore this. In the same way they continue to ignore the multitude of human rights abuses taking place in preparation for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Hundreds have died building stadiums, yet we won’t ever know truly how many due to obfuscation by the Qatari government. The tragic death of a British citizen falling from a stadia roof earlier this year helped shine some light on specific dangers he and his colleagues faced, but only through reporting by the coroner here in the UK. Thousands of workers are trapped in situations of modern slavery; indentured with debts to fixers who brought them to Qatar on false pretences, and now can’t return because their passports have been confiscated.

?I personally work in infrastructure design and construction here in London. Knowingly building something with that rate of mortality is criminal. Again, we’re not perfect in the UK, yet we prosecute those who endanger others in their work place and aim for zero harm on all construction sites. The idea that thousands of well meaning and excited football fans will literally be cheering their national heroes atop the graves of many poor, disposed and exploited migrant workers makes me sick.

?FIFA should not endorse putting football in direct conflict with human rights and inclusivity. To make football fans choose between football and global solidarity. They should not allow Qatar to continue to sanction negligent murder in the name of football.

?Football is about enjoyment, fun and competition; celebrating the creativity of skilled footballers, enjoying the unity it brings within and between nations. As fans we need to demand more from FIFA and by extension the companies that help keep it afloat. A boycott might not be right for everyone nor am I demanding everyone do the same. The Independent’s Jonathan Liew provides some useful alternatives to consider your part in holding FIFA accountable.

?Yet for me at least, I cannot enjoy the beautiful game this summer when I know so many people right now, as I write this, from players to fans, in dressing rooms and hotel rooms, are scared of being abused because of the colour of their skin.

?I can’t cheer with joy while I think there is a man my age, most likely Indian or Bangladeshi, lying in a cot in a cramped room on the edges of a Qatari building site, mourning the ‘accidental’ death of a colleague and wondering whether it will be him next.

?Sport shouldn’t be riddled with these burdens. But until our international governance of this wonderful sport is changed, I shan’t indulge its uglier side just to watch England go out on penalties in the quarter finals.