The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ sets a lot of people’s teeth on edge. Ecology, respect for human rights, suspicion of bribery… Multiple scandals tarnish this event expected to run from November 20 to December 18, 2022, in Qatar. Faced with such issues, several cities in France have decided to boycott the world cup by playing no game in fan-zones or giant screens set up in public places.
Lille, Bordeaux, Marseille, Strasbourg, Reims and now Paris: the main French metropolises refuse to be associated with this competition.
This Monday October 3, Pierre Rabadan – deputy mayor entrusted with Sports – explained the AFP that “the conditions of the organization of the world cup, as much on the environmental aspect as social” do not enable the Paris authorities to support this event. No giant screen will be set up to enable Parisians and tourists to follow the competition. The deputy mayor also adds the world cup – held in December – interferes with the Holidays celebrations.
All big cities in France condemn the organization conditions of the cup, that goes against the main issues and fights carried out against global warming and social unfairness. “This competition progressively transformed into a human and environmental disaster, incompatible with the values we want to convey through sport and especially soccer”, Marseille authorities stated in a release. “If Bordeaux was to house fan-zones, I’d really feel like I’d be accomplice [and] this sport event represents all the human, environmental and sporting aberrations”, Bordeaux green mayor Pierre Hurmic says in Le Monde.
As for Reims mayor Arnaud Robinet, he underlines the mediatic inconsistencies between the efforts required from the French to cut down their energy consumption and the use of monumental and highly energy-consuming installations during the world cup.
Workers’ work conditions have been condemned: even though Qatar only officially acknowledged three deaths on the work sites of the world cup. The International Labor Organization considers at least 50 people have died and 500 severely injured.
