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FirstNews
The Weekly Debate
The Dilemma
Issue 468
5th–11th June 2015
Should the home countries withdraw from the next two World Cups?
THE STORY
Prince William asks FIFA to put football first
THE Duke of Cambridge, Prince
William, has called on world
football’s governing body, FIFA,
to “show that it can represent the
interests of fair play and put the
sport first”.
The Prince, who is the president of
the English Football Association (the
FA), spoke out after seven senior FIFA
officials were arrested and seven others
charged over alleged illegal activity
involving tens of millions of dollars. FIFA
is also facing a criminal investigation
over how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups
were awarded to Russia and Qatar.
Sepp Blatter was re-elected as
president of FIFA for a fifth term last
week, even though he was urged to
resign by many footballers, managers
and officials. Blatter was not one of those
arrested and says he has nothing to do
with any illegal activity at FIFA.
The chairman of the FA, Greg Dyke, has
said that England would be prepared to
join other European nations in pulling
out of the next World Cup in Russia if
Blatter doesn’t quit. Dyke also said he is
going to talk to other European countries
about the possibility of setting up an
alternative World Cup without FIFA’s
involvement.
In light of this story, this week’s Poll of
the Week asks: Should we pull out of the
next World Cup? Vote online at www.
firstnews.co.uk.
OPINION
“We won’t be pulling out of
anything on our own…because
if the FA did that FIFA will just
carry on, won’t they? But if UEFA
[European football organisation]
FA Chairman Greg Dyke
wanted to pull out of the World Cup,
we could certainly do it with them.
How come after all these years FIFA
is still not financially transparent?
We still don’t know who gets paid
what, what bonuses they get. I’ve
got a lot of sympathy for the people
who work lower down in FIFA. They
must be fed up with the corruption
that is going on above them and it is
widespread.” – Greg Dyke, chairman
of the Football Association (FA)
“I’ve long had my doubts about
Russia holding the next World Cup...
Now with all of this, I believe there
is a pretty overwhelming case for
England taking a stand and saying
we should not participate in the
next World Cup given the current
appalling state of FIFA.” – Andy
Burnham MP, Labour leadership
candidate
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The Weekly Debate
The Dilemma
FirstNews
Issue 468
5th–11th June 2015
Should the home countries withdraw from the next two World Cups?
BACKGROUND
FIFA, the organisation that
runs international football, is in
crisis. A total of 18 senior football
executives – including seven FIFA
officials – have been charged
in the US for alleged moneylaundering, tax evasion and
racketeering. These crimes are
all examples of corruption, which
is when people in power behave
inappropriately for personal gain
– often large amounts of money.
It is alleged that FIFA officials have
made more than $150million (£97
million) in illegal payments over a
24-year period.
In addition to the arrests, the
Swiss authorities have launched
an investigation into the awarding
of the 2018 World Cup to Russia
and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
FIFA organises the World Cup and
decides which country will host it.
Just two days after the American
security service, the FBI, ordered
the arrests of senior FIFA figures,
Sepp Blatter won an election to
remain FIFA president for a fifth
term. Yet by Tuesday of this week,
he resigned, explaining that, “I do
not feel I have a mandate from
the entire world of football – the
fans, the players, the clubs, the
people who live, breathe and
love football.” However, later
that same day, American media
began reporting that the FBI is
investigating Mr Blatter himself
as part of their inquiry into
corruption at FIFA.
As if all this wasn’t enough of a
mess for FIFA, the US investigation
has claimed there was an illegal
payment of $10 million (£6.5
million) made by South African
officials in order to secure the
2010 World Cup .The South African
WHO LOSES OUT?
The obvious big losers in a boycott
are the sportspeople who miss out
on a chance to play in a major global
tournament through no fault of
their own. American athletes missed
an opportunity to win medals at
the 1980 Olympics just as Russian
athletes couldn’t participate in 1984.
Sepp Blatter has been the
head of FIFA since 1998
sports minister has denied the
report.
Before Mr Blatter announced
he would resign, there were calls
from politicians, football officials
and others for England to lead a
boycott of the next World Cup in
Russia. The idea was that a boycott
could force Mr Blatter to quit, and
therefore bring about reform of
FIFA and an end to corruption at
the organisation.
However, although Mr Blatter
has said he will be stand down,
there are still some calls for
the next two World Cups to be
boycotted or for Russia and Qatar
to be stripped of their hosting
duties and two other countries
to be awarded the tournaments.
This is because many people
within football think FIFA, which
organises the World Cup, is beyond
repair and that it will not reform.
So what’s the point of a
boycott, will it achieve anything,
and why should the home
nations – England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland –
even consider it?
US President Jimmy Carter
in 1979 took the decision to
boycott the Moscow Olympics
For most athletes, participating
at the Olympics is the absolute
peak of their careers. The World Cup
represents the same achievement for
footballers. The decision to boycott is
usually made either by politicians or
sports officials, rarely by the athletes
themselves.
So if the home countries were to
refuse to participate in qualifiers
or the World Cup itself, dozens of
players such as Gareth Bale, Wayne
Rooney, Raheem Sterling, Steven
Naismith and Jonny Evans would
miss the chance to play at the
world’s top football tournament.
The other big losers, of course, are
the fans. Football is the global game,
with billions of people tuning in
to watch the World Cup every four
years. Fans want to see their teams
in action.
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The Weekly Debate
The Dilemma
FirstNews
Issue 468
5th–11th June 2015
Should the home countries withdraw from the next two World Cups?
BOYCOTTING
What is a boycott and what does
it achieve? A boycott is a refusal to
participate in an activity, or to spend
money on something, as a way of
registering disapproval.
Perhaps the two most famous
sporting boycotts ever are the
two Olympic boycotts in the
1980s. The 1980 Olympics was
awarded to Moscow, the capital
city of Russia and, at the time, the
Soviet Union. This country was
an enemy of the USA and many
other western countries, including
the UK. In 1979, the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan. The American
president at the time, Jimmy Carter,
issued the Soviets with a warning
that Americans would refuse to
participate at the 1980 Olympics
if Soviet troops didn’t leave
Afghanistan quickly. The troops
stayed, so the Americans boycotted.
Although Britain and several
other countries did send athletes
to Moscow, the absence of the USA
The opening ceremony of the
1980 Moscow Olympics games
was a huge blow to the games as
they were – and still are – one of the
most successful Olympic nations.
Four years later, the Soviet Union
and thirteen of its allies retaliated
by boycotting the 1984 Olympics in
Los Angeles, USA. The boycotting
countries organised their own
tournament, called the Friendship
Games, as an alternative. The idea of
an “alternative World Cup” has been
suggested as a way of boycotting
FIFA’s tournament but still giving
footballers a chance to compete at
the highest level.
PUBLIC OPINION
Spain lift the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Investigators believe there may have been illegal
payments made in the bid for the 2010 Cup
A survey in the UK this week shows widespread
support for a boycott. Here are the results of the
opinion poll on the World Cup and FIFA:
54% think England should boycott future World Cups unless
FIFA is completely reformed and corruption removed.
50% think the 2018 World Cup should be taken off Russia and
held elsewhere.
67% think the 2022 World Cup should be taken off Qatar and
held elsewhere.
78% think the voting process for Russia 2018 and Qatar
2022 was probably corrupt. Just 3% think it was probably not
corrupt.
66% think FIFA is corrupt, 6% think it is not, and 28% do
not know.
Source: YouGov
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The Weekly Debate
The Dilemma
FirstNews
Issue 468
5th–11th June 2015
Should the home countries withdraw from the next two World Cups?
WHY BOYCOTT RUSSIA 2018?
FIFA corruption
The world governing organisation
of football has been accused of
corruption for many years. Criminal
investigations have been launched
into the voting process that awarded
Russia the World Cup. England also
bid for the same tournament, and FA
chairman Greg Dyke has criticised
the decision to award Russia the
World Cup. So how does FIFA decide
where to host the world’s biggest
football competition? Countries put
forward bids to host the World Cup
and then the 24 members of the FIFA
Executive Committee cast a vote on
which country they think should get
it. During the bidding process for
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, two
members of the executive committee
had their voting rights suspended
following allegations that they would
accept money in exchange for votes.
Does all of this make the next World
Cup a disgrace already, and should
the Home Nations therefore lead by
example and refuse to play?
Human rights
anti-gay laws in Russia
and many gay people
suffer physical and
verbal abuse, with the
police doing nothing
to protect them.
The Ukraine
situation
In early 2014, the
democratically elected
Ukrainian president,
Viktor Yanukovych, was forced to
quit after weeks of protests in the
capital city, Kiev. Ukraine is on the
Russian border and Mr Yanukovych
was seen as favouring closer ties
to Russia rather than the European
Union. Soon after he fled the country
and a new, pro-EU government
took charge, Russian soldiers began
appearing in an area of southern
Ukraine called Crimea. This part of the
country used to be part of Russia and
many of the residents there speak
Russian and consider themselves
Russian rather than Ukrainian.
However, Russia’s decision to put
troops there and then announce that
Crimea had become part of Russia
again angered leaders in western
countries, including the US, UK,
France and Germany.
Russia is a democracy but its
human rights record is poor.
Freedom of speech is limited, with
political opponents of President
Vladimir Putin arrested,
threatened or even
killed. According to
Human Rights Watch,
an independent
organisation, some of the
workers who built sites
for the 2014 Sochi Winter
Olympics were cheated
out of their wages,
required to work 12-hour
shifts with few days off,
Russian president
and had their passports Vladimir Putin
confiscated. There are
Soon after the
Russian invasion of
Crimea, war began in
various parts of eastern
Ukraine between forces
loyal to the Ukrainian
government and
“rebels” who supported
closer ties to Russia. Just
like in Crimea, much
of eastern Ukraine
contains people who
speak Russian and feel
A Ukrainian tank in the east of the country
more Russian than Ukrainian. Many
of them do not want to be a part of
the EU but would rather be closer to
Russia. It is widely believed that the
rebels are being helped strongly by
Russian armed forces and weaponry.
Russia denies this. The European
Union, USA, Canada and Australia
have placed a number of sanctions
on Russia as punishment for what
they see as unacceptable behaviour
in Ukraine. Russia has responded by
introducing its own sanctions on the
western countries.
More than 6,400 people have died
in the Ukrainian war so far and more
than 1 million people have lost their
homes, according to the United
Nations. A ceasefire was signed earlier
in the year but it has barely held up,
and earlier this week heavy fighting
was reported in eastern Ukraine once
more. Tensions between Russia and
the West are now at their highest
level since the 1980s.
Earlier this year, the new Ukrainian
president urged Ukraine’s allies to
consider boycotting the 2018 World
Cup if Russia does not pull all its
troops out of his territory. He said: “I
think there has to be discussion of a
boycott of this World Cup. As long as
there are Russian troops in Ukraine,
I think a World Cup in that country is
unthinkable.”
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The Weekly Debate
The Dilemma
FirstNews
Issue 468
5th–11th June 2015
Should the home countries withdraw from the next two World Cups?
WHY BOYCOTT QATAR 2022?
One of the stadia being constructed
specially for the 2022 World Cup
FIFA corruption
Swiss authorities have opened an
investigation in to the awarding of
the 2022 World Cup to Qatar at the
same time as they are investigating
the 2018 tournament. The votes
for both World Cups were held in
December 2010. Five months later,
the former head of England’s 2018
bid said that four FIFA committee
members had approached him
asking for various things in
exchange for votes. Two of the
people he accused were arrested
last week as part of the American
investigation into corruption. The
Sunday Times newspaper later
reported that two FIFA committee
members were given $1.5 million
(£900,000) in exchange for their
votes in favour of Qatar. If true, this
would be an example of corruption.
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter denied there
was any cash exchanged for votes.
Human rights
Qatar has a dreadful record when
it comes to human rights. The
country uses physical punishment
for people who break certain laws,
including drinking alcohol. Freedom
of speech is limited, meaning
people cannot speak out against
the government without fear of
being arrested. Gay relationships
are banned in
Qatar. People can
only vote in local
elections – the
country is run
by a monarchy
and so citizens
have no say in
who governs
nationally. Qatar
is effectively an
authoritarian
dictatorship,
which means that
the rulers impose
strict rules, use
harsh punishments and don’t allow
freedom of expression.
Workers’ rights
Qatar has no great football
history and has never hosted a
major football tournament before,
so the 12 stadia for the 2022 World
Cup are being built right now, and
the people doing the work are all
workers brought in from other
countries, including Nepal, India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It is
thought that over 1,000 of these
workers have died already as a
result of poor health and safety
and dreadful working conditions.
In the summer months, Qatar’s
temperature can reach up to 50C –
unbearably hot for people working
outside. Many of the workers
are said to be living in appalling,
cockroach-infested accommodation
and paid as little as 57p per hour
– yet Qatar is the richest country
in the world thanks to its oil and
gas supplies. Where as the average
annual salary in the UK is £21,970,
in Qatar it is £60,612. The country
owns the Harrods store and Shard
building in London, but it won’t pay
its foreign workers a decent wage.
Foreign workers on their
way to construct the stadia
for the World Cup in Qatar
An investigation by the Daily Mirror
newspaper showed that some
workers are beaten and many have
had their passports confiscated. FIFA
has done very little to pressure the
Qatari government into improving
the human rights of the stadium
workers. Does a boycott of the
World Cup send a strong message
that the UK will not tolerate abuse
of workers?
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The Weekly Debate
The Dilemma
Issue 468
5th–11th June 2015
Should the home countries withdraw from the next two World Cups?
WILL THE WORLD CUPS BE RE-AWARDED ANYWAY?
If the current investigation finds
that the World Cup votes for Russia
and Qatar were corrupt, there is a
chance that the votes will be rerun and the World Cups could be
moved to different countries. Greg
Dyke has said that Qatar should be
stripped of the 2022 World Cup if
corruption in the bidding process is
proved. He said: “If I was the Qatari
organisers I wouldn’t sleep very well
tonight. I think if the evidence…
shows they were corrupt then
obviously the bids should be redone, it’s as simple as that.”
Tax evasion
The act of avoiding paying tax to
a government, which is illegal.
Taxes are money the government
collects to pay for things such as
health and education.
FIFA’s headquarters in Switzerland
What effect will a UK boycott of the World Cups
actually have? Very little, according to the FA
chairman, Greg Dyke. He thinks a boycott has to
involve several European countries for it have any
positive effect: “It would be ridiculous to try to do it
on your own. All we’d do is pull out of the World Cup
and everyone would say well done and forget all
about it. It’s got to be done by enough nations to have
an impact.” Those comments were made before Mr
Blatter announced his resignation; Mr Dyke supported
a boycott as a way of forcing the FIFA president to
quit. But is this about a lot more than just Mr Blatter
– should we still make a stand against corruption,
human rights abuse and non-existent workers’ rights
by refusing to participate in Russia and Qatar?
Discussion Questions
Glossary
Money-laundering
A way of hiding the origins of
illegally obtained money, often by
transferring money through foreign
banks or through businesses.
WILL A HOME NATIONS BOYCOTT WORK?
England captain
Wayne Rooney
FirstNews
Racketeering
Criminal activity that is performed
to benefit an organisation.
Mandate
When a majority of people vote
for a candidate in an election,
that winning candidate has the
authorisation to push through a
set of policies they stand for. This
authorisation is called a mandate.
Sanctions
Non-violent measures taken
to punish a country or person.
Sanctions against Russia have
included travel bans on senior
officials and trade restrictions on
certain companies.
Human rights
The rights all humans have. Rights
are freedoms, such as the freedom
to express yourself, to not be
abused, to live freely without fear
of attack.
1. Can FIFA be fixed, or is it beyond repair?
2. Now that Sepp Blatter, the FIFA boss, has resigned, do you think we should
draw a line under the past and still participate in the World Cups?
3. Should FIFA move the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to other countries?
4. If you think they should, why? If you think they shouldn’t, why not?
5. Why is a boycott a good idea?
6. Why is a boycott not a good idea?
7. Regardless of what changes FIFA makes, should England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland make a stand against the next two World Cups?