As the World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday, the debate intensifies among Danes regarding a boycott of the tournament. They argue that Qatar is a country that does not respect human rights, including its treatment of migrant workers and the deplorable conditions they face. A new poll conducted by Megafon for TV2 and Politiken revealed that 431,000 respondents believe Denmark should boycott the World Cup in Qatar, while 401,000 believe Denmark should participate. 171,000 responded "I don't know.".
Ever since former FIFA president Sepp Blatter pulled Qatar's name from the envelope at a ceremony in 2010, there has been a great focus on the thousands of migrant workers who, according to Amnesty International and The Guardian, were forced to abandon their lives because of the construction of World Cup stadiums.
The country has also been criticized for its views on the rights of women, homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender people.
Both FIFA and the Qatar World Cup claim that since winning the bid to host the World Cup in 2010, there have been only 38 deaths among workers on World Cup construction projects, 35 of which were classified as non-work-related, according to TV2.
Donating money for every match they watch
Rasmus Grand Bertelsen, director of Norden Rasmussen Global, was on the bench for many of Denmark's matches, but not this time. However, he and his friends do not believe that it will change anything in the big picture if they choose to turn off the television and boycott the World Cup entirely. Instead, they have come up with another solution: donating money for every match they watch. They have not yet decided where the money collected will go. Rasmus Grand Bertelsen has already made a donation to Amnesty International, but he is also considering Human Rights Watch because it helped to expose what happened in Qatar, according to him. He also said that they are looking for some organizations that can help with the victims' families.
DBU understands skeptical fans
DBU director Jacob Jensen is aware that Danes are skeptical about the World Cup in Qatar, telling TV2: “I am glad that we live in a free country where people can think what they want. I think that in light of the circumstances that have been revealed, it is not surprising that there is a large percentage of Danes who believe that it should have been handled differently.”.
