Borussia Dortmund fans stage very public protest against this winter’s World Cup

Borussia Dortmund fans held up a banner reading ‘Boycott Qatar 2022’ prior to their Champions League tie with Manchester City at the Signal Iunda Park. 

With the tournament just weeks away, the list of dissenting voices against this year’s World Cup continues to grow with Dortmund fans expressing their displeasure at the event in a very public manner. 

On a day in which veteran LGBT activist Peter Tatchell staged what he claimed was the first ever protest of its kind in the Gulf state, the supporters of the German club echoed his sentiments. 

Tatchell had claimed that he had been arrested by the Qatari authorities, but a statement was released claiming that was ‘false’ and criticised his ‘deliberate intention of provoking negative responses’ as ‘irresponsible and unacceptable’. 

Various German clubs are known for their staunch activism on societal and moral issues. 

The Dortmund supporters’ protests comes after criticism over the tournament continued to grow in the face of the fast approaching start date. 

Denmark, who will compete at the tournament, have chosen to express their concerns over the country’s human rights record through their kits. 

The Dane’s kit manufacturers, Hummel, released a statement alongside the release of their kits for the tournament detailing why they were in block colours with the nation’s crest also in the same colour. 

‘The colour of mourning,’ Hummel said in an Instagram post. ‘The perfect colour for Denmark’s third shirt for this year’s World Cup.’  

‘While we support the Danish national team all the way, this shouldn’t be confused with support for a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives,’ the company said,’ they added. 

‘We wish to make a statement about Qatar’s human rights record and its treatment of the migrant workers that have built the country’s World Cup stadiums.’

Meanwhile, a number of French cities said that they would not be setting up the customary fan parks for the tournament in protest against the treatment of migrant workers. 

Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Marseille are among those who will not be setting up the screens.  

‘It is impossible for us to ignore the many alarms from NGOs about the abuse and exploitation of migrant workers,’ Strasbourg’s Mayor Jeanne Barseghian told ’20 Minutes. 

‘Strasbourg, the capital of Europe and seat of the European Court of Human Rights cannot turn a blind eye to human rights being flouted to this extent.’

England are among the countries who are supporting a campaign that will see their captains wearing a rainbow-coloured armband for every game they play at the World Cup. 

The campaign, titled OneLove, targets discrimination and will see Kane, alongside eight other national skippers including Gareth Bale with Wales, don the armband. England, nevertheless, have faced criticism for this, with some activists saying that it does not go nearly far enough.

Managers of nations, including Louis van Gaal and Hansi Flick, have criticised the tournament.   

‘Was it right to award the World Cup to Qatar? This questions should have been answered much earlier, with a no!’ Flick said.

‘The fact is that in Qatar when it comes to human rights, when it comes to sustainability, a lot is not right, it’s obvious.’

Van Gaal, who will be leading Holland in their first World Cup tournament since 2014, said: ‘Of course, I am supporting the compensation funds (for the victims of labour abuse in building the World Cup stadiums in Qatar) and I think that must happen especially when you consider that billions, I mean millions that FIFA profits from the tournament.

‘If they are so smart to organise the World Cup there they must stand with all that comes after that decision.’

Human rights groups have sought to illustrate just how poor the treatment of migrant workers has been since the country was awarded the tournament back in 2010. 

They have called on sponsors to implore FIFA to contribute to the reparations paid to the migrant workers and their families impacted over the last 12 years.  

Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said amid the demands for remedies to migrant workers and their families: ‘Brands buy rights to sponsor the World Cup because they want to be associated with joy, fair competition, and spectacular human achievement on the playing field—not rampant wage theft and the deaths of workers who made the World Cup possible.

‘With only two months until the first ball is kicked, sponsors should use their considerable leverage to press FIFA and Qatar to fulfil their human rights responsibilities to these workers.’

‘Corporate sponsors have paid FIFA well over a billion dollars to be associated with the 2022 World Cup and will not want their brands to be tarnished by human rights abuses,’ said Stephen Cockburn, head of economic and social justice at Amnesty International. 

‘It is clear what the public and their customers want them to do – stand up for workers’ rights in Qatar and demand compensation for every worker that has suffered to make this tournament happen.’

Amnesty added their voice to such calls.   

‘In addition to World Cup sponsors, should also use their leverage and call for FIFA and Qatari authorities to publicly commit to a compensation fund to remedy serious abuses against migrant workers who made the World Cup possible,’ their statemenjt read. 

‘FIFA should also support and contribute financially toward initiatives designed to assist and support migrant workers, such as the Migrant Workers’ Centre recommended by the Building and Wood Workers’ International.’