With the World Cup in full effect and excitement at a high, it seems like many have already forgotten about the cloud of  corruption that surrounded the tournament less than two months ago.

In 2010, Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup. This immediately caught the attention of many people around the world, and not just because Qatar would be the first Arab nation to host the competition. the lack of a “football culture” in combination with the fact that Qatari summers regularly reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit prompted many allegations of bribery and corruption in the selection process.

Qatar is a relatively young nation only founded in 1971. because of the nation’s young age, they lacked the necessary infrastructure to actually hold and accommodate the projected 1,000,000 tourists that would be incoming. Development needs included: hotels to house the guests, highways for transportation, and 6 entirely new stadiums.

In the face of this herculean task, The Qatari government turned to its population of migrant workers. Qatar only has a population of 2.8 million but out of that number only 300,000 are considered citizens, the rest are migrant workers whose visas are tied to their employment. this exploitative relationship would lead to disaster.

A 2021 investigation by the Guardian found that over 6,500 migrants workers had died since 2010.

So while you are enjoying the shiny new stadiums and state-of-the-art technologies on display at the tournament, keep in mind the numerous lives that were lost in order to make it happen.