Pressure on FIFA to strip Qatar of 2022 World Cup builds

ZURICH – 24 September 2018: Between allegations that Qatar potentially sought to sabotage rival candidates’ bids for the 2022 World Cup and Al-Ghufran tribe’s accusations, Qatar is in hot water and faces the threat of having the 2022 World Cup taken away, potentially given to the UK.

Since late July 2018, evidence has built up that Qatar may have sabotaged—or at least sought to—other countries’ bid for the 2022 World Cup.

Claims were made clear after ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter said late July that an investigation should be launched into the role played by ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy in swinging the FIFA towards choosing Qatar.

“Allegations that Qatar paid a PR firm and ex-CIA operatives to spread propaganda about rival bidders have ignited concern over how the tournament was awarded. Former FA chief executive, Mark Palios, said that even if Qatar were not stripped of the World Cup, they could still be banned from international football post-2022,” write The National.

“The Football Association was forced to respond to the growing chorus of speculation from within the sportl and in the media. A spokesman said it would not comment on the hypothetical role that England would play if the host nation for the 2022 World Cup was changed.”

Moreover, leader of England’s 2018 World Cup Bid, Lord Triesman, called on FIFA to consider stripping Qatar of the 2022 World Cup.

“If Qatar is shown to have broken the Fifa rules, then they can't hold on to the World Cup. I think it would not be wrong for Fifa to reconsider England in those circumstances. We have the capabilities,” Triesman said. “Fifa's obligation is to look at the evidence thoroughly and rapidly and have the courage to take what may be a difficult decision.”

To muddy the water further, Monday saw a delegation from Al-Ghufran tribe lodged a complaint Monday to the President of the International Football Federation (FIFA) in Zurich against the practices of the Qatari regime against their tribe, demanding Qatar be stripped of the 2022 World Cup.

The tribe’s demands come after the Qatari regime committed serious human rights violations against them and built the facilities for the World Cup on land that was forcibly taken away from the tribe.

In their hand-delivered letter, Al-Ghufran tribe revealed that the violations by the Qatari regime did not stop at the illegitimately revoking the citizenship of 6,000 citizens with no legal basis, it also included taking away the tribe’s land by force and exploiting it for the purposes of building the facilities of the 2022 World Cup.

“This is a sensitive tournament [World Cup] followed by considerable gathering of people who come together for the love of the game, honest competition, brotherhood and love and respect among nations; how will Qatar play the role of supplying this when it is so unfair to its own children [citizens],” Al-Ghufran added.

“This is a country that harms its own citizens and strips them of their rights and then talks about freedom and democracy. The FIFA system states that country where the World Cup is held must respect and preserve human rights, as per the policies of the UN Human Rights Council. The FIFA is fully committed to organizing its activities based on respecting the human rights at an international level and the UN’s standards for workers.

Al-Ghufran revealed that more than a few lands on which the state built sports facilities for the tournament were taken away by force from the tribe, and that the establishments were built illegally and illegitimately after the owners were kicked off the land and had their citizenship stripped.

“The state resorted to every illegitimate method in dealing with Al-Ghufran tribe from deprivation to expulxion from the country to the withdrawal of their official documents to denial of education and healthcare,” added Al-Ghufran.

The complaint also referred to other practices and serious violations committed against workers working on the construction of sports facilities.

The sons of Al-Ghufran tribe demanded that FIFA reject the establishment of the World Cup in Qatar 2022 unless the Government of Qatar restores the Qatari nationality to all those affected from the tribe and returning their land, which were forcibly robbed, to them. The land now has various facilities built on them including stadiums, other sports facilities, hotels, health centers, hospitals, public transport, among other things. The tribe members also demands compensation using their land.

Al-Ghufran tribe also said that if the Qatari regime was to refuse, the FIFA should refuse to play matches or benefit from such facilities like honourable countries that respect human rights refrain from importing commodities and agricultural products from Israeli agricultural lands built on occupied Palestinian lands; otherwise, they said, the FIFA would become part of the regime’s violations.

They also called on FIFA to force Qatar to employ qualified Al-Ghufran tribe members in projects built on their land and to give them a share of the proceeds of the tournament, if they accepted financial settlements to exploit their land.

If the Qatari regime rejects the demands, the moral and humane action for the FIFA would be to strip Qatar from the tournament to refrain from becoming party to the “humanitarian and moral crimes” committed by the Qatari regime.

This is the letter, as acquired by Egypt Today:

A collective complaint to the President of the International Football Federation against the practices of Qatar

Regarding: Human rights violations by the state of Qatar, including stripping some 6,000 citizens from their nationality without legitimate cause.

Submitted by: The sons of the Al-Ghufran tribe, who have been, illegally and illegitimately, stripped of their Qatari nationality

Our suffering at the hands of the Qatari government started in 1996 when they issued an inhumane and immoral decision oto drop the nationality of about 6,000 individuals from our tribe without a fair allegation or legitimate investigation or rule of law; instead, it was decided via one decision that did not rely on laws. These individuals mow live displaced between a number of countries, without a nationality; some of them went to neighboring states and some of them stayed within Qatar, marginalized and without rights, identity or work, living without any of the rights that were mentioned in treaties and conventions, like access to education, healthcare or the right t own property. In fact, they have had a significant number of land plots taken away from them, many of which were used by the Qatar regime for building sports facilities to serve the 2022 World Cup.

Your Excellency the President of the International Federation of Football, you are well aware of the continuation of the state of Qatar in this injustice towards its own people and stripping them of their nationality and right to own property. Meanwhile, this is a sensitive tournament [World Cup] followed by considerable gathering of people who come together for the love of the game, honest competition, brotherhood and love and respect among nations; how will Qatar play the role of supplying this when it is so unfair to its own children [citizens]. This is a country that harms its own citizens and strips them of their rights and then talks about freedom and democracy. The FIFA system states that country where the World Cup is held must respect and preserve human rights, as per the policies of the UN Human Rights Council. The FIFA is fully committed to organizing its activities based on respecting the human rights at an international level and the UN’s standards for workers.

We would like to let you know that more than a few lands on which the state built sports facilities for the tournament were taken away by force from the tribe, and that the establishments were built illegally and illegitimately after the owners were kicked off the land and had their citizenship stripped.

The state resorted to every illegitimate method in dealing with Al-Ghufran tribe from deprivation to expulxion from the country to the withdrawal of their official documents to denial of education and healthcare.

Not to mention the other practices and serious violations committed against the workers who are keen to ensure the completion of sports facilities; without you redirect intervention to protect said workers, they would be in great risk. All this confirms that the State of Qatar is pursuing policies that have nothing to do with human rights, and at the same time it praises human rights day and night and claims to be the guardian of freedoms in the region.

And for all the above … and for many reasons that you see … and because your organization was established and founded with the view of protecting rights before sponsoring games, we demand the following:

1- We call on FIFA to strip Qatar of the 2022 World Cup unless it listens to the demands of Al-Ghufran tribe, or else FIFA would be jointly responsible for the actions of Qatar against Al-Ghufran tribe.

2- Restoring Qatari citizenship to all Al-Ghufran tribe members who have faced the injustice of having their citizenship stripped away.

3- Returning the land, which were forcibly robbed, to those who actually own it. The land now has various facilities built on them including stadiums, other sports facilities, hotels, health centers, hospitals, public transport, among other things. The tribe members also demands compensation using their land.

4- If the Qatari regime was to refuse, the FIFA should refuse to play matches or benefit from such facilities like honourable countries that respect human rights refrain from importing commodities and agricultural products from Israeli agricultural lands built on occupied Palestinian lands; otherwise, they said, the FIFA would become part of the regime’s violations.

5- The FIFA should force Qatar to employ qualified Al-Ghufran tribe members in projects built on their land and to give them a share of the proceeds of the tournament, if they accepted financial settlements to exploit their land.

6- Allowing the Al-Ghufran tribe to present its humanitarian case before FIFA officials.

If these demands are not met, the moral and humane action for the FIFA would be to strip Qatar from the tournament to refrain from becoming party to the humanitarian and moral crimes committed by the Qatari regime.

Sincerely yours,
Al-Ghufran delegation
With no nationality and away from their home, Qatar

Al-Ghufran’s call to FIFA comes as part of a wider move by the tribe to recover its rights on the margins of the UN Human Rights Council.