Ecuador slides under the radar of the pomp and circumstance of the opener.
“Ever since Fifa chose Qatar back in 2010, the smallest nation to have hosted football’s greatest competition has faced some big questions – from accusations of corruption in the bidding process to the treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums where many lost their lives. Homosexuality is illegal here. Women’s rights and freedom of expression are in the spotlight. Also, the decision six years ago to switch the World Cup from summer to winter.
“Against that backdrop, there’s a tournament to be played – one that will be watched and enjoyed around the world. Stick to football, say Fifa. Well, we will – for a couple of minutes at least.”
–Gary Lineker as BBC opened their World Cup coverage where they forewent the Opening Ceremonies
We’ll have more to say about that later, but for the next proverbial couple of minutes, we will talk about the football itself.
No host country had ever lost their opening match at the World Cup until Sunday (15 wins, 6 draws). Qatar hoped to use this match as their genuine arrival onto the World stage. Instead, Ecuador played massive spoiler and came to play amidst the noise. La Tri dominated the first half and overcame a controversially disallowed goal in the third minute to go up 2-0 after 45 on a brace from Enner Valencia, who scored all three of Ecuador’s World Cup goals in 2014.
The Qataris had no answer for Ecuador’s attack in the first half. They played the second half a little better, but it was far from enough and Qatar, who has made some unwanted history as the first country to host a World Cup without ever previously qualifying for one, became the first World Cup host to lose their opening match.
Full marks to Ecuador though, as they played their game on a night that was supposed to be all about Qatar.
There are conflicted feelings in covering a World Cup that has been shrouded in immense controversy from how they won the bid, to the treatment of the workers brought in to build the infrastructure, to their attitude towards homosexuality and how they are viewed when someone shines a spotlight. Those of us who love the sport will follow because we want to see our country and/or a country we admire do well at the World Cup. However, to suggest that anyone that they should “stick to football” should stick it themselves.
Qatar is in competition in the region with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (mostly Dubai and Abu Dhabi) in currying favor with the rest of the World as get in the proverbial barons’ club. To that end, all have enticed Formula 1 to hold races there, golf tournaments to take place there, and purchasing European clubs such as Paris-St. Germain, Manchester City, and Newcastle United. The term being given to this method–especially towards Qatar and Saudi Arabia in particular–is “sportswashing”. These emirates hope that you forego the reportedly thousands of migrant workers who died working on the infrastructure in Qatar or that Mohammed bin Salman by most accounts ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In both countries, human rights violations have been duly noted.
Given Qatar’s and Saudi Arabia’s shoddy record on human rights and the recent antics of the previous host of the World Cup, international sporting organization really need to think twice about hosting events in places where the human rights record is enough to give pause and climate conditions make things less than optimal (which is why we’re seeing a World Cup in November and December for the first time).
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s rant on Saturday was tone deaf to say the very least. Yes, the West is not squeaky clean with its record on human rights and on racism, but that is never a reason to excuse the human rights violations in places like the Middle East, Russia, and China.
If we want sporting competitions that live up to the ideals they profess, then we need people in charge of the organizations who can live up to those ideals and not compromise them on a whim like Infantino has done and his predecessor before him–Sepp Blatter. Quite simple, we need better people in charge of things if things are ever going to improve.
Going back to the coverage of this World Cup, BBC’s critique of how this World Cup came about as well as Telemundo’s are in stark contrast to Fox’s coverage which could be best described as towing Qatar’s line (sponsored by Qatar Airways) and at times reaches pathetic levels.
Let’s recap day one of Fox’s World Cup coverage:
– Presenting sponsorship by Qatar Airways
– Puff piece before the opening game
– No references to any geopolitical and human rights issues
– And then you compare it to what Telemundo, the BBC and even beIN Sports are doing… pic.twitter.com/zgqK4Jjp7p— Bob Williams (@WilliamsBob75) November 20, 2022
“Our stance is if it affects what happens on the field of play, we will cover it and cover it fully,” David Neal, executive producer of Fox’s World Cup coverage, said to press on Thursday.
“But if it does not, if it is ancillary to the story of the tournament, there are plenty of other entities and outlets out there that are going to cover that. We firmly believe the viewers come to us to see what happens on the field, on the pitch.”
This is no disrespect to the announcers and crew who will work the games on Fox, but it is attitudes like that and the coverage as a whole that make people wish ESPN, CBS, or NBC was covering this tournament and/or take the 2026 tournament from Fox. The optics from Sunday’s broadcast is that Fox is de facto Qatar’s mouthpiece for the tournament with a side of overly-American-centric coverage which is what everyone feared would happen had the USA qualified for the previous World Cup.
Given all that has happened over the past dozen years, it is impossible to have the conversation be just about the soccer. We would like to extol how Ecuador played and how they are in a better position to advance to the knockout stages after their win. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that this World Cup is being staged by an organization that wanted to take into uncharted territory at all costs, in a place that wants to be relevant player on the World stage at all costs, has built infrastructure at all costs, and hopes that in return, people forget the controversies that have brought us to this stage at all costs.
If in the future, Qatar becomes a more open and pluralistic place after hosting this World Cup and the infrastructure is not wasted, then good for Qatar and good for the World. Otherwise, people won’t forget how this emirate put on a front and tried to hide what was going on behind the scenes.
2022 World Cup
