TAnd let’s pretend that we know nothing about Qatar, its surface area (“smaller than Schleswig-Holstein”), its average temperatures, its incredibly rich clique of leaders, the terrible way in which it deals with human rights and the rather strange fact that gays there are so are unwelcome like western party accessories, i.e. drugs and alcohol. Let’s pretend.
And then we imagine that such a country, with such objectively lousy conditions for an international sports tournament, was thrown into its lap a football World Cup, which it worked hard for with bribes running into millions, and then – yes, then it happened actually something that a daring comedy director couldn’t think of any better: The West really does come to visit Qatar to give the sons of the desert (that’s not what they are called publicly, but you think of the term) a good pat on the finger, morally now, not just once but many times and over and over again, in a massive media crescendo heading for November 20th when things finally kick off.
But that’s not how human rights work! says the West. And the minimum wage of 2.55 euros that these poor people from India, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines earn from you is really a scandal. And anyway, the West continues, the living conditions of the migrant workers! And because it’s the West that speaks like that, it also says “migrant workers”, because that’s how it’s done in the West today, everyone is included, especially those who used to be systematically excluded and one would like to have that those in Qatar would take our inclusive way of speaking as an example, which, if you think about it, distinguishes the West from all the other countries out there and, well, also gives us a certain moral superiority.
Air-conditioned penalty area scenes
Meanwhile, the men from Qatar (it is indeed only men who have a say here) do not understand at all what the West wants from them. It would seriously be an attractive comedy: The Clash of Civilizations with camels, sandstorms, air-conditioned penalty scenes and a visual feel somewhere between Lawrence of Arabia and House of Cards. Unfortunately, on Monday evening at 9 p.m. it only became the last episode of “Hart aber fair” moderated by Frank Plasberg.
Of course, you can also design a talk show as a tutoring session. But it’s never good for a format like this when everyone in it is kind of right, and this time everyone was kind of right, really, without exception. The SPD politician and sports official Willi Lemke was right when he said that this show was the end of the big bashing against Qatar. “Starting tomorrow we will watch football”, because in such a difficult time (he meant the war and such) “I – and many other people too – need something positive”. Although one might add that Ukraine probably needs a little more of that than Willi Lemke.
DFB media director Steffen Simon was right when he demanded “that we also become self-righteous by the standards that we are now applying to Qatar”, because: “Qatar did not invent the system that helped it get the World Cup.” Tugba Tekkal, the ex-soccer player and human rights activist, was right anyway. She wants to use the World Cup in Qatar to draw attention to grievances and “keep being loud”, and it goes without saying that the television will stay off during the World Cup. “I am a footballer through and through, but I am I’m honest too,” Tekkal said. “I can’t take to the streets every day for human rights and then look the other way in Qatar.” She’s right.
