There are several reasons why it is important for Qatar to be completely stripped of their bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:



Primarily, the main ways in which the World Cup was granted to them were corrupt. There have been a myriad of proven allegations that have shown that Qataris have extorted or bribed voters in their favour. This includes claims from a former employee of the Qatar bid team that released information that alleged Qatar to have paid off African officials to vote in their favour. Along with this, it was released that the former President of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Jack Warner, was paid upwards of $2 million in an effort to further Qatar's World Cup bid.



Corruption is not the only reason Qatar should not be allowed the World Cup, as workers conditions have been proven to be horrific despite Qatar's promises to improve said conditions. One worker died every two days in 2014, though this toll doesn't take into account the deaths of Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi workers. As such, the real death toll is expected to be above one per day. Working conditions have been exposed as being bad, with workers being paid less than minimum wage to work long hours in temperatures that are regularly above 50°C. The Nepalese foreign employment promotion board says that 157 of its workers in Qatar have died between January and mid-November last year – 67 of sudden cardiac arrest and eight of heart attacks. Thirty-four deaths were recorded as workplace accidents. Qatar has said it plans to improve working conditions on a number of occasions, yet worker deaths mainly due to sudden cardiac arrest are tragically common.



In an effort to break a Guinness World Record, these "slaves" were forced to run a marathon in the sun with whatever clothes they had. This included jeans and flip-flops or for the vast majority of workers, no footwear whatsoever. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both condemned the "rampant" and "severe" exploitation of workers which in a lot of cases also includes physical and sexual abuse.



The 2014 Brazil World Cup saw the first implementation of a water break for the purpose of cooling players down and preventing such atrocities as those that happen on a daily basis in Qatar. Due to the monumentally high temperatures, the 2022 World Cup would have to be held from November to December of that year which would lead to a disruption in domestic football leagues around the world as well as postponing of the African Cup of Nations.



As football fans and people of the world, we cannot allow a World Cup to be bought, while the same country that bought it is also using and abusing their workers as slave labour and for amusement.



As such, please sign this petition in an effort to raise awareness and put international pressure on FIFA and its sponsors about this unacceptable practice and to shine a light on Qatar's inhumane regime.



