Socialist Venezuela Defends Islamist Dictatorship Qatar as World Cup Host

CARACAS – Venezuela’s socialist regime released an official statement on Wednesday rejecting global disgust with FIFA, the international soccer organization, for naming the repressive Islamist state of Qatar as 2022 World Cup host.

The FIFA World Cup is set to begin on Sunday. While typically held every four years during the summer, this year organizers moved the date of the tournament back out of concerns that Qatar’s hot desert climate was not safe for players to compete in during the summer. The weather has been one of a long list of concerns regarding Qatar’s competence to host one of the world’s most prestigious sports events. That list includes the country’s kafala forced labor system and its violent imposition of sharia, or Islamic law, which the country uses to justify widespread human rights abuses on its citizens.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry of socialist leader Nicolás Maduro called for the international community to stop the “hegemonic, fascist and imperial campaign” of criticism against the Middle Eastern nation.

Venezuela is not participating in the World Cup, as its national team did not qualify.

Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Faria posted the statement on his Twitter account on Wednesday at 11:58 p.m. local time.

COMUNICADO | A pocos días de iniciar el mundial de fútbol de #QatarWorldCup2022 queremos rechazar categóricamente las fuertes críticas a las que se ha enfrentado el Estado de Qatar que pretenden sabotear y opacar el arduo trabajo realizado por la nación del Golfo. pic.twitter.com/IWeompo1jv

— Carlos Faria (@Fariacrt) November 17, 2022

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the widespread strong criticism that the State of Qatar has faced after it was announced that it would host the 22nd edition of the Soccer World Cup,” the statement read, “which has deepened as it approaches the date of its celebration, and that undermines the hard work done by the Gulf nation.”

The Maduro regime – a notorious human rights violator and practitioner of crimes against humanity of which substantial evidence exists in the public record – continued its statement by saying that it recognizes sport as a “platform used to transmit messages of peace, brotherhood and understanding among the countries of the world.” As such, it called for the international community to silence its criticism against Qatar. 

Both Qatar and Venezuela are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In June, Maduro traveled to Qatar as part of his international tour across several Middle Eastern nations, meeting with the nation’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, to broaden “collaboration” between both regimes.

The 2022 World Cup will take place between November 20 and December 18. Qatar was chosen to host the tournament in 2010 after it beat the United States in the bid to host it. On the same occasion, FIFA chose Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.

In 2021, U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors accused FIFA officials of taking bribes from Russia and Qatar in exchange for hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.

The election of Qatar as the host of FIFA’s most important soccer tournament instantly drew criticism of the Middle Eastern nation for its handling of human rights. Qatar has faced fierce criticism throughout the preparation process for the World Cup, with human rights organizations and activists denouncing the government for its abuse of migrant workers, paying extremely low wages to roughly 30,000 migrant workers and placing them in slave-like conditions. 

Human rights organizations estimate that hundreds of workers have died due to abuse or inhumane conditions while working on the construction of the soccer stadiums and infrastructure required for the World Cup.

Qatar has also been accused of arbitrarily detaining suspected members of the LGBTQ community. One Filipino man recently claimed that members of Qatar’s police officers gang-raped him before he was deported from the country.

Concerns for the safety of both tourists and journalists covering the event were exacerbated this week when Qatari authorities assaulted a reporter from Denmark’s TV2 channel. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday on a live broadcast that was part of the channel’s World Cup coverage, documented unspecified Qatari government agents trying to smash the crew’s camera for no apparent reason.

Tourists seeking to attend the soccer tournament have been warned that importing drugs, alcohol, pornography, pork products, and religious books and materials, all of which are considered illegal in Qatar, could get them arrested. Qatar has also reneged at the last minute on an agreement it had reached with FIFA for the distribution of Budweiser beer in the stadiums, effectively banning the sale of alcoholic beverages during the World Cup matches. 

In October Emir al-Thani complained that the criticism Qatar was facing for its abusive slave-like labor practices and human rights violations was “unprecedented” slander.

Former FIFA president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter admitted in November that the election of Qatar as the World Cup host was a “mistake” and a “bad choice,” but without acknowledging nor making mention of the human rights situation in the Middle Eastern country. Blatter implied that Qatar was too small to have the resources to properly host the event.

The Maduro regime concluded its official statement urging everyone to “stop the calls for a boycott” made against the upcoming FIFA World Cup while wishing the tournament a “marvelous execution.”

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.