The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar, marking the first time a World Cup has been held in an Arabic country. To avoid the heat of Qatar, the event will be held from November to December, rather than in the summer, as is customary.
The decision to hold the World Cup in Qatar has been widely panned. According to a Department of Justice investigation, top FIFA officials were bribed to give the event to the Arab country (narrowly beating the US itself to secure hosting rights).
Numerous investigations by groups like as Human Rights Watch and The Guardian revealed that Qatar’s stadiums were built by migrant labourers who were effectively treated as slaves, with their passports taken and their wages suspended. According to a 2021 study, at least 6,500 migrant labourers have died in Qatar as a result of harsh working circumstances (such as a lack of access to water) since the country was granted the World Cup in 2010.
