Qatar 2022: CAF Backs FIFA’s Plea To Shun Human Right Issues

The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has backed FIFA’s plea to disregard off-the-field concerns about the World Cup tournament in Qatar.

Since the finals were given to Qatar in 2010, there has been debates about the country’s treatment of migrant workers and its criminalization of same-sex partnerships, which are among the concerns that have raised the greatest alarm all over the world

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, urged the 32 participating countries’ association heads in a letter last week not to “allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists”.

Following a similar letter of support earlier this week from the South American confederation CONMEBOL, his CAF counterpart, Patrice Motsepe, has lent his backing to the appeal.

“We recognize that football has over the years been an important tool for bringing together and uniting people from different races, language groups, and religious backgrounds,” Motsepe said.

“The World Cup is an important global sporting event that brings together people from different countries and continents for the development and celebration of football worldwide and the advancement of humanity.”

In a joint letter released on Sunday, ten member associations, including the Football Association and the Football Association of Wales, who are a part of a UEFA working group on Qatar, said they will keep pressing FIFA to establish a centre for migrant workers and a compensation fund.