Qatar: Dystopian Nightmare

From the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, Dystopia: an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives

If Qatar were simply an imaginary tale, written to warn of the evils inherent in totalitarian, religious, monarchies, discussions regarding the crushingly-harsh realities of contesting a World Cup in November and December would be great water-cooler fodder.    

A-Qatar Total Population: 1.8 Million (Wikipedia)

1.     278,000 Qatari citizens

2.     1.5 Million “expatriates/migrant workers”

At an average of just over 50,000 seats per stadium, and a final tally of 8-9 stadiums, Qatar 2022 will have 400,000-450,000 stadium seats available. This represents 1.5 stadium seats per citizen of Qatar.

B-964 Deaths amongst the Nepalese, Indian and Bangladeshi migrant workers living in Qatar during the years 2012-2013 (DLA Piper report)

For comparison sake, here are the workforce statistics for the United States:

http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag23.htm#workforce

Amnesty International’s update on migrant worker rights in Qatar:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2014/11/qatar-steps-end-migrants-exploitation-ahead-world-cup-woefully-insufficient/

Excellent reporting on the working conditions in Qatar:  

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/23/qatar-nepal-workers-world-cup-2022-death-toll-doha

For a look at the DLA Piper report:

http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org/documentdownload.axd?documentresourceid=58

From the Library of Congress’ Law Library, links pertaining to Qatar:

http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/qatar.php

And, of course, Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar

But, by all means, let’s talk about the horrible inconvenience of a World Cup in November and December.

The Middle East and Safety at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Disclaimer: I value religious affiliation not at all. I value honesty, faith in the human spirit and a world in which every living thing has an equal role in its creation. (Mushy nonsense finished)


The list below is a partial list of those countries which may qualify for the 2022 World Cup. The number to the right of each country is the number of times that country has appeared in the World Cup Finals.

Nigeria 5

Saudi Arabia 4
Tunisia 4
Algeria 4
Morocco 4
Iran 4

Egypt 2
Turkey 2
North Korea 2

Indonesia 1
Iraq 1
Senegal 1

Suppose six of the above countries qualifies to play in Qatar 2022.
Barring a complete disaster the United States will qualify.

Throw in the slim chance that Israel qualifies. (They have qualified one previous time.)

Given the above scenario, on a scale of 1-Infinity (1 being super safe and Infinity being Armageddon), how safe would you feel attending the 2022 Cup? How safe do you think the teams would feel?

Now, ask yourself, from a safety standpoint, does it even matter if any of those countries qualify?