Denmark joins boycott of Qatar

The players of Denmark will travel to 2022 World Cup without their families, local media reported on Tuesday, as the Danish Football Federation (DBU) wants to reduce activity Qatar in protest against the country’s human rights record.

“We don’t want to contribute to generating revenue for Qatar,” DBU communications manager Jakob Hoyer told the Ekstra Bladet newspaper. “So, we have reduced our travel activities. Last (World Cup finals), the wives and girlfriends of the players traveled with the management, but as I said, we canceled the trips for (the finals). )”.

Qatar has faced heavy criticism from human rights groups and the media for its treatment of migrant workers. An analysis by The Guardian newspaper in February 2021 concluded that 6,500 South Asian migrants had died in Qatar since 2010 and the International Labor Organization stated that Qatar underreports worker deaths.

The organizers of the Qatar World Cup, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), disputed the claim that “the tournament cost thousands of lives”. The government says its labor system is under construction, but denied a 2021 Amnesty report that thousands of migrant workers are still being exploited.

Sportswear company Hummel said last week that the uniform Denmark will wear at the World Cup was designed in protest against Qatar’s human rights record. Hummel said he reduced the details of Denmark’s World Cup jerseys and also released a black uniform.

DBU also reduced travel to Qatar for its board members, local media reported last week. Each of them can only attend one match in Denmark, while no more than two board members can attend each of their games.

It should be remembered that France recently announced that it will not broadcast World Cup matches on giant screens as an ecological measure and for the abolition of human rights in the Gulf. Denmark begin their World Cup campaign on November 22 against Tunisia.