It seems only yesterday the buzz surrounding China and its handling of the 2022 winter Olympics led to many controversies. Now, the latest controversy in international sports has raised concern about the selection of national sporting events. 

In 2022, the Winter Olympics took place in Beijing, China, but the controversies soon began to pile up on them. Reports of poor conditions began to surface. The most concerning one was quarantine for those who became sick with the COVID-19 virus. Some athletes spoke out against the poor conditions of the isolation and the food they received while in quarantine. 

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing were nothing short of controversial. Now, a different country is under the spotlight of public backlash.

The current international football tournament–the World Cup– is taking place in the country of Qatar. While the games, so far, have been classic soccer, the spotlight has been on the Qatari construction of the stadiums for the tournament.  

Qatar is a very small country in comparison to the previous host countries in recent memory. The previous World Cup was hosted by Russia, a country with about 1500 times the square mileage of the small middle eastern country. On top of that, Qatar is mostly desert, which means there are only some small areas that have cities that can harbor stadiums.

To combat this, Qatar called for the immediate construction of new stadiums for use by different international teams. Unfortunately, they used foreign immigrants to work and construct the stadiums. This is not only a questionable decision, but the reports soon began to surface of the poor conditions and deaths during their construction. 

Since the few reports began to trickle in, the official death toll has reached around 400-500 migrant workers. This is not only very disturbing but the tournament has been allowed to take place with little to no conversation of the controversy.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only thing that Qatar is being attacked for. Qatar is also known for not having equal treatment for women and those in the LGBTQ community. This question is now being brought up: how and why Qatar was chosen for an international competition?

Now, no country should change its beliefs and ways that they manage things, based on other countries’ wants and needs, but the people who select the locations for the Olympics and World Cup need to keep in mind the safety and well-being of athletes and those involved. Worldwide sporting competitions should only be about sports and not the politics behind them. 

At the moment, the next World Cup location is going to be hosted by either the United States, Canada, or Mexico. The next Olympics is set to take place in Paris, France. The people in charge of the selection of these events have made excellent decisions in the past for some of the most hallowed events in the sporting world, and I have no doubt that they will continue to make great selections. But in the future, they should be more careful and meticulous with the locations for the sake of the players, fans, and the event overall.