Soccer fans wonder: How can they ethically watch the World Cup?

The men's soccer World Cup, soccer's biggest stage, starts Sunday in Qatar. But this year, the games have the cloud of the host country's long list of human rights abuses and failures. GBH News sports reporter Esteban Bustillos has been talking to fans about how they're grappling with being excited for the World Cup, but also disturbed by what we know about how Qatar has operated in the lead-up to the tournament. He joined GBH’s Morning Edition co-hosts Paris Alston and Jeremy Siegel to talk about his reporting. This transcript has been lightly edited.

Paris Alston: What sparked your reporting on this, Esteban?

Esteban Bustillos: So, like a lot of people, I love the World Cup. I think it's the best global sporting event, and that includes the Olympics. And for weeks now, I've been wrestling with whether I can really support this tournament or to what extent I can even support this tournament. And, like a lot of folks, it's been really sticky.

Jeremy Siegel: It's also a little sticky. I think I'd argue with you about the Olympics vs. World Cup thing, I'm more of an Olympics guy. But specifically with this World Cup, why is it so thorny for some fans this year?

Bustillos: I mean, take your pick. There are the conditions for migrant workers, which have basically bordered on modern slavery. The Qatari government has said that there are 37 deaths among World Cup stadium workers between 2014 and 2020, and that only three of those were actually related to work. But outside observers have found that number to be much, much higher. Or the government's terrible record when it comes to LGBTQ rights or women's rights or freedom of the press, or even the fact that because of the country's climate, the summer event had to be moved to the winter months to avoid the scorching heat that would have made playing impossible. And, you know, just the cherry on top of that, the Department of Justice has accused leaders of soccer's global governing body, FIFA, of accepting bribes to steer the World Cup to Qatar. Even FIFA's former president, Sepp Blatter, who led the organization when Qatar got the cup, said recently that having the tournament there was a mistake. It's messy, you know.

Alston: Yeah, that is a lot. So how are local fans navigating this?

Bustillos: As you can imagine, it's complicated. Evan Cipriano is the vice president of the Boston chapter of American Outlaws, a supporters group that backs the U.S. soccer teams. He went to the 2014 Cup in Brazil and vowed to never miss a tournament after that. But he broke that vow this year with the issues surrounding Qatar in mind.

[Previously recorded]

Evan Cipriano: Which leaves you at home watching and saying, you know, I'm just watching a sporting event. But at the same time, you're kind of supporting what's been decided by a large organization like FIFA, which is to grant a country like Qatar the ability to host what should be a very welcoming and global event for everyone to participate in. Like I said, certainly from a fan perspective, it doesn't seem like everyone's welcome and that's just really disappointing.

[Recording ends]

Siegel: So this is interesting. He's gone from vowing to never miss a tournament, going to see one in person, to now slamming the brakes because of this event in Qatar.

Bustillos: Yeah, and part of it is actually his past experience in Russia in 2018 when they hosted the Cup. Obviously, Russia has had similar issues when it comes to human rights and it was already making incursions into Ukraine then. But that wasn't really being as highlighted as much as Qatar's problems are being talked about now. Cipriano still went, but his feelings about that event changed over time.

[Previously recorded]

Cipriano: And then on the back end of it, I really thought to myself, like, this was really just propaganda for the Russian government to say, we held a great event. People came from all over the world. It was awesome. I look back saying like, wow, like I can't really believe that I went there and then kind of came back and was saying, 'yeah, everything was fine. Like, you should go to Russia, this is a great place. I felt welcome there.' I regret doing that, and those sentiments.

[Recording ends]

Bustillos: And, you know, a decision like that with the U.S. men's team back in the tournament after missing out on the 2018 Cup, it's a huge loss for fans like Cipriano, but those are the types of choices that people are having to make this year.

Alston: So that is certainly a lot to try to think through. And another big component of this is how it's going to impact Qatar's relationship with the rest of the world. What all have you heard about that?

Bustillos: So obviously, this is a big moment for the country and the region since this is the first time that a Middle Eastern nation has hosted the World Cup. Cemal Kafadar is the director for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University and a big soccer fan. He says he was surprised, like many others, when Qatar got the cup. And he's dealing with his own emotions about watching.

[Previously recorded]

Cemal Kafadar: Not a day goes by when I don't receive a message from a friend or two who says, I'm really ambivalent about this cup.

[Recording ends]

Bustillos: He did tell me that there are conversations happening in the Middle East now, spurred in part by criticisms of Qatar that may have not happened before when it comes to everything from worker's rights to LGBTQ rights.

[Previously recorded]

Kafadar: Well, change may be a bit too ambitious, but we've definitely spurred some dialogue, some conversations, some awareness. And change certainly comes at the end of something like that, but not necessarily a short term change. Not something that might, next month, immediately after the World Cup, one could expect. Yes, I think it's very important to change minds. And this kind of conversation does change minds.

[Recording ends]

Bustillos: And one other point he had is that while there is plenty to criticize Qatar about, he cautions about using the World Cup to paint too broad a picture of the region.

[Previously recorded]

Kafadar: It seems to me that the larger image of Qatar and the Gulf and Arabia as an oil rich, spoiled place or country or society is unfair in that regard. We really have to find a balance between exceptionalizing Qatar and rightly worrying about issues that do exist.

[Recording ends]

Siegel: This is super complicated and it's really complicated for fans to navigate because on the one hand, you have people really cognizant of the issues in Qatar. And then at the other end of it, you know, they're enjoying the game, which operates far outside of just the boundaries of one country. I got to ask you, as a superfan of the World Cup, have you made a decision on whether you're going to watch?

Bustillos: You know, it's really, really hard to say either way. Again, I love the cup and cheering for Mexico and the U.S. and seeing all the other storylines play out every year. I didn't watch this year's Winter Olympics because of my own personal concerns about how the Chinese government has operated when it comes to the Uyghurs or Tibet. But that was easy. I mean, who really cares about luge when it comes down to it? But this is different. When I was talking to Kafadar, he quoted Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano who wrote that the history of soccer is a sad voyage from beauty to duty, meaning that money has taken the joy people had for the game and turned it into a commodity. And that's how this year feels. If I watch, it won't be because I feel the excitement I usually do. It'll feel like an obligation.

Alston: The 2026 World Cup is going to be happening in four years, obviously, and part of that is going to be happening here in Massachusetts at Gillette. So is that sort of a silver lining?

Bustillos: That's right. You know, the U.S. and England played each other in the group stage this year on the 25th. Here's the hoping that we'll get a World Cup rematch on July 4th, 2026, in Foxborough. It would be a home field advantage unlike anything that this town's ever seen.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Eduardo Galeano's name.