World Cup and human rights, Norwegian football is the leader of the protests against Qatar

On November 13, less than a week after the kick-off of the World Cup in Qatar, during the Rosenborg-Sarpsborg match, the fans of the home curve (at Lerkendal Stadion in Norway), created a huge scenography to remember the workers migrants who died during stadium construction works.

The World Cup this year is at the center of global controversy, the decision to assign them to Qatar has shaken institutions and associations.

And the curves too.

The Norwegians were the first, and

were also very sensitive .

Deaths at work, civil rights, environmental damage, these are the most controversial times of this unprecedented World Cup in winter, we have explored the theme in our special

“How many human rights violations will it take before the football community unites to demand better protection for migrant workers?

We cannot pretend that football and politics are strangers and we must never look away when some are using our beautiful game to upstage human rights violations.

We can change that together."

This is an excerpt from the

, a team from the top Norwegian championship, which was the first to expose itself to raise awareness on the issue of human rights violated in Qatar. 

It was December 2021, the team presented a special third jersey, with a QR code that leads to a web page of information on the abuses that occur daily in the Arab Emirate on workers who come from the poorest areas of the world. 

Tromsø had also asked the national football federation to boycott the event in the event of qualification for the finals, which they did not qualify for.

The National Human Rights

The Norwegian national team, already during the qualifying matches for the World Cup, publicly exhibited its dissent.

He did so by taking the field with a shirt with the words "Human rights on and off the field". 

Getty

Norway v Turkey - FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar Qualifiers

Norwegian journalists arrested in Doha

In Norway, the news of the

for having filmed migrants' fields and work sites caused a stir.

They are Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani, employees of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).

Arrested for 36 hours and then released, they were charged with trespassing on private property and filming without permits.

Bans that were then reiterated by the Qatari authorities in the regulations for the press that will travel to the country for the World Cup. 

According to a survey by the NRK, one in two citizens in Norway would have been in favor of self-exclusion from the World Cup in Qatar. 

The Courage of Lise Klaveness

On December 31, 2021, Lise Klaveness, former footballer and now president of the Norges Fotballforbund, the Norwegian football federation made a courageous indictment of Fifa during the annual congress of the same organization.

You defined the decision to assign the 2022 World Cup to Qatar as "unacceptable".