for Daniel Cohn-Bendit, “the only ones who can act are the players”
As the Football World Cup approaches in Qatar, which kicks off on November 20, the host country has come under fire from critics, particularly accused of treating its workers like slaves, of suppressing homosexuals and of denigrating stakes.
What causes cases of conscience among football fans. Like Daniel Cohn-Bendit, former environmental MEP, and football fan – he has been a football consultant several times at major events. Maintenance.
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Will you watch the World Cup in Qatar?
Daniel Cohn Benditt To be or not to be… This has been a pressing problem for years: should we watch the Beijing Olympics? The World Cup in Russia? In 1970, during the Mexican World Cup, the left called for a boycott of the Brazilian team, the best of all time. When I made my documentary in Brazil – “On the road with Socrates” –Gilberto Gil told me this: “When the ball is rolling, it’s all going to be taken. » My son told me he was boycotting the competition. I also decided not to watch the matches, but could I really? Will I miss a France-Brazil? I know my limits. When the ball gets rolling, it brings everything. We are trapped in our football addiction.
Is an international call for a boycott justified?
Nope. Two years ago, why not, but now… I do not see today a federation that has the courage – and I use this word in its positive sense – to say “no, not acceptable, we refuse to go to Qatar”.
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World Cup 2022: Did Qatar cheat France?
Perhaps we should ask the representatives of the States not to go to Doha?
It won’t help much. The event is the field. If Macron or Chancellor Scholz don’t go to Qatar, football fans don’t care. No, what I expect now are reactions from the players, initiatives, that they blow up the situation. In Brazil, in 1973 and 1974, the Corinthians [club de foot brésilien] entered the field with a banner against the military dictatorship. I expected this in Russia four years ago, but it did not happen.
Football players should be aware of the situation in Qatar, which seems not to be the case…
Footballers will increasingly know that the media will talk about human rights violations, ecological aberrations. We can hope to see them show their support for Nepalese workers, or for homosexuals who risk imprisonment. There may be World Cup events that disrupt Qatar’s machine. Small events where the power, caught, will respond violently, so that the delegations have no choice but to leave the country. I don’t have high hopes for this competition, but hope is not dead.
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How to explain the relative indifference of public opinion, the silence of intellectuals and artists? During the Argentinian World Cup of 1978, the reactions became more fierce against the regime of the dictator Videla?
The world has changed. There are so many problems today, people are so anxious about the crisis that when you talk to them about the situation in Qatar, they just say. “yeah bad” shrugged. Also, in 1978, it didn’t work either. The Dutch announced that they would refuse to shake Videla’s hand if they won the tournament, but they lost in the final [par l’Argentine].
Intellectuals are on the move. The BHL went to Argentina to convince the French players to show their disapproval, Dominique Rocheteau spoke publicly…
I think we realize the futility of it all. And don’t forget that FIFA controls the images of the World Cup. At the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup [au Brésil], a small Indian entered the field with a banner to defend the cause of the Natives. Well no one saw it on TV because Fifa deleted the footage. As for journalists, for the most part, they didn’t talk about it.
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Between financial windfall and malaise, the complex arbitration of bars reluctant to boycott the World Cup
In Germany, former captain Philipp Lahm said he will not watch any matches…
Yes, the German coach [Joachim Löw] there were also very harsh words against Qatar, but they still had to leave. Right now, nobody knows what will happen in this World Cup. Will the players move? How will Qatar react in the event of an incident? Something has to happen. And the only ones who can act are the players. Only they can toggle this event.
