Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley recently joined a growing list of Republican lawmakers who want the United States to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Haley’s opposition to the games is not only justified but something other countries would be smart to follow.
“President Xi Jinping wants the propaganda boost of the games,” she wrote in an op-ed. “He remembers well the widespread praise China received after hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008. Symbolism matters, and if the United States and other free nations participate in Beijing 2022, the Chinese Communist Party will claim it as further proof of China’s good global standing and world leadership.”
And while Haley is right that the U.S. needs to boycott these games, the country needs to go further. The U.S. should also boycott another global sporting event that same year: the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. FIFA is the International Federation of Association Football, the highest international governing body for the sport we call soccer.
The case to boycott the Winter Olympics in China has rightfully received significant attention because the country is a major adversary to the U.S. It’s a country that puts Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps, bears much responsibility for the more than 2.5 million deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic, has rampant problems with intellectual property theft, and has factories that put up suicide nets because working conditions are so bad.
We must not give Qatar a pass either — for reasons that appeal both to conservatives and liberals.
Qatar’s preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup shows that it has little regard for human life. Since being awarded the rights to the event back in 2010, the country has been working on infrastructure to accommodate it, including stadiums. A recent report shows that more than 6,500 migrant construction workers have died so far while working on these projects.
These are people from countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The report says that an average of 12 workers per week from those five countries have died in the past 10 years. This report does not even include migrant workers from the Philippines and Kenya, nor does it include the final months of 2020 or the first two months of 2021.
Additionally, there is evidence that Qatar is using slave labor on these projects. The U.S. should have no part in legitimizing a country that does such things.
Not to mention, many argue that Qatar is a state sponsor of terrorism. For example, during the last decade, Qatar gave money to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which the U.S. used to consider a terrorist organization. And in the Syrian civil war, Qatar supports rebels who want to oust leader Bashar Assad; one of those groups it has supported, however, is Nusra Front, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.
And if we need any help convincing others that the U.S. should have no part in Qatar’s World Cup, consider some of the country’s policies. Homosexuality carries a prison sentence, domestic violence and marital rape are not criminal offenses, and unmarried adult women under the age of 25 need a male parent’s permission to travel out of the country.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that the administration has not made up its mind when it comes to the 2022 Olympics. Hopefully, when she eventually circles back to it, the Biden White House does the right thing not only with the Olympics, but also with the World Cup.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
