Boycotting Qatar World Cup would be "counterproductive": KNVB

Boycotting the World Cup in Qatar or moving the tournament to another country is not a good plan, according to the Dutch football association KNVB. Marianne van Leeuwen, director of professional football at the KNVB, said this at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, where she received a petition from the Cancel Qatar 2022 committee. About 20,000 people signed the petition.

"In Qatar, our commitment is more than the sporting commitment," said Van Leeuwen. "We draw attention to important developments. For the working conditions of migrant workers, for human rights, for women's rights, for freedom, for equality. Amnesty International and other parties provide feedback that there is movement and impact. They are also very clear that there is still a world to be won, and we are far from the end. A boycott or moving the tournament would be counterproductive and not contribute to it. It would even harm the migrant workers who would lose their jobs when we should be supporting them."

Earlier on Tuesday, Amnesty International called on FIFA to do much more for migrant workers in Qatar. The human rights organization acknowledged improvements in Qatar since the emirate was awarded the World Cup in 2010. The kafala system, which made employees the employers' property, has been abolished on paper. Qatar now has a heat protocol and a minimum wage. "Unfortunately, these changes are not accepted by every employer," said Ruud Bosgraaf of Amnesty International. "And the government of Qatar does little about it. There is a role for FIFA."

Amnesty International still hears stories about migrant workers who do not receive a wage or do not dare to change employers. "In addition, Qatar is doing everything it can to hide the figures on how many migrants have died," said Bosgraaf. "That is bad for their image. And they do not have to compensate the families of the dead workers. Qatar recognizes that about 15,000 migrants have died in the past ten years. But they do not say how many deaths are directly related to the World Cup."

Van Leeuwen received the petition from Freek de Jonge. The 77-year-old comedian is one of the initiators of the action. He also took action with Bram Vermeulen in the run-up to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, which was then a dictatorship. "That caused an incredible amount of controversy at the time and set the tone for the years after," said De Jonge. "Back then, we collected more than 40,000 signatures, now half that. While people's awareness is greater now. It may also be because of the idea that there is nothing that can be done about it. The association should, in essence, be on the side of the petition."

Future tournaments will no longer be assigned to countries like Qatar, Van Leeuwen is convinced of that. "It has been the case for some time now that countries that make a bid are obliged to include a human rights paragraph. They must also be able to explain it very well. The decision-making process has also changed. Countries must openly indicate what they are voting for. They must be accountable. Those are important changes."

Those changes are too late for the World Cup in Qatar. Van Leeuwen: "We had three options: don't go to the World Cup, do go to the World Cup and only play football, or go to the World Cup and draw attention to things that need to change. We opted for the latter route. We call it socially conscious participation."