Craig Foster told SBS News in an exclusive interview that he is still taking part in coverage of the FIFA World Cup, urging Australian not to turn a blind eye to human rights issues surrounding the 2022 event. Read more:
Former Socceroo Craig Foster has been a vocal critic of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar but has agreed to be part of SBS's coverage of the 2022 event, saying he wants to ensure human rights issues are discussed.
"I don't want to go to Qatar and spend my money," Foster said. "I don't want to go to Qatar and take happy photos like [Qatar ambassador] David Beckham and say that everything is fine because it's not fine. So I'll be working on this World Cup from here in Australia." But he said this year would be the first time the game would be embedded with human rights, something the players, coaches and even fans could not avoid.
"What sport does is it can provide a focus for these types of abuses and harm and it can let the world know that they're occurring. But to do that, we have to talk about it." After the report, the Qatari government said: "Every lost life is a tragedy, and no effort is spared in trying to prevent every death in our country.Source:"Unfortunately, of the millions of residents from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal who have lived in Qatar from 2011 to 2019, a very small percentage have sadly passed away.
When Australia hosts the Women's World Cup next year, Foster says its own human rights issues will be highlighted.While acknowledging that every country had some issue with human rights abuses, Foster believes there should be minimum standards for countries hosting the contest. He said the best outcome of Qatar would be to ensure FIFA is not allowed to make the same decision again, noting that Saudi Arabia was talking about bidding for the 2030 World Cup.
On a more positive note, Foster said there had already been changes in Qatar thanks to the World Cup.