‘Now do a segment on laws against homosexuality’: US Soccer fans SLAM Fox Sports for showing travel clips ‘exploring Qatar’ on its World Cup coverage that is underwritten by the Qatari government – while IGNORING allegations of human rights abuse
American soccer fans have called out FOX for its coverage of the World Cup, where it has shown travel clips detailing the perks of life in Qatar without ever covering its repressive laws.
A recent segment of FOX’s coverage was tweeted out with the caption ‘Qatar is often associated as much with its picturesque coastline as its vast sand dunes’ with a clip narrated by Alexi Lalas about the country’s Dhow festival. The tweet says it is sponsored by Qatar Tourism.
But fans did not respond warmly to the footage.
‘Cool, now do a segment on their laws against homosexuality,’ said one Twitter follower in reply, referring to how it is outlawed in the country.
Another wrote: ‘I was going to say human rights violations and intolerance, but yeah, sure, coastlines.’
A different response read: ‘It’s associated with neither of those things. Oil and money come to mind though.’
FOX Sports has put tourist clips showing Qatar out on its World Cup social media channels
But soccer fans were unimpressed by a recent clip that was pushed on his Twitter channel
FOX Soccer’s most recent clip spoke about Qatar’s Dhow festival in extensive detail
The tweet to soccer fans spoke about Qatar ‘being associated with its picturesque coastline
Qatar Airways, the nation’s state-owned airline, sponsors FOX’s coverage of the World Cup. Last month, the broadcaster said it would not focus on the controversy surrounding Qatar hosting the competition.
‘Our stance is if it affects what happens on the field of play, we will cover it and cover it fully,’ David Neal, executive producer of Fox’s World Cup coverage, said.
But if it does not, if it is ancillary to the story of the tournament, there are plenty of other entities and outlets out there that are going to cover that. We firmly believe the viewers come to us to see what happens on the field, on the pitch.’
But the replies to FOX’s tweet suggest Neal isn’t quite right.
FOX has not given any coverage to allegations of mistreatment of migrant workers who helped build the stadiums for the competition.
The claims include as 2013 allegation by The Guardian that workers were denied food, water, and were stripped of their passports.
Workers walk to the Lusail Stadium, one of the 2022 World Cup stadiums, in Lusail, Qatar
David Neal, second from left, executive producer of Fox’s World Cup coverage, has detailed the decision not to focus on Qatar human rights issues while covering the tournament
Some allege they were not paid, or if they were, the payments were minimal and long overdue. A 2019 Daily Mirror investigation found that 28,000 workers were paid roughly $1 an hour over a 48-hour week.
Most damning, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that over 1,200 workers died building the infrastructure for the tournament. Last year, The Guardian put that figure closer to 6,500.
Qatar also punishes homosexuality with imprisonment and considers men to be the guardians of their female relatives.
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