Esteban Beltrán (61-year-old lawyer) is the director of the Spanish section of Amnesty International, an NGO with ten million members (96,000 in Spain), which defends human rights around the world and has been very critical of the election Qatar as the venue for the World Cup, a tournament he has called the Cup of Shame.
Why so critical?
Many reasons. The entire infrastructure of the World Cup has been created from scratch with the work of the immigrant population in inhumane conditions. There is a direct connection between football, Qatar, FIFA and the deaths of thousands of migrant workers who have had to work in abusive and exploitative conditions.
Gianni Infantino says that criticism is hypocritical and that Europe should apologize for its last 300 years.
The most serious thing is to ignore legitimate criticism. Equality, dignity, reparation cannot be treated as if it were some kind of culture war. This is about human rights, which are universal and which FIFA has promised to respect in its statutes.
Can welcoming thousands of visitors with different mentalities to the World Cup help make Qatar a more tolerant country?
Qatar is not a closed country. It is open and already receives many visitors. And 90% of its workforce is immigrant. Al Jazira connects you to the entire outside world. That's not the problem.
Will there be any positive legacy?
FIFA is going to enter about 6,000 million dollars. A part of that money should be used to create a reparation fund for workers and victims of infrastructure construction. That would be the best legacy.
