DANIEL KATSANDE, YEAR 12
The World Cup returned on the 22nd November for it’s showcase of the best footballers on the planet bringing huge viewership and enjoyment across the world, usually.
The World Cup is an opportunity given for National pride and community to be working coherently. This is normally the case however, for some this did quite the opposite. Baggio the Italian maestro also known as the man with the ‘Divine Ponytail,’ had pioneered his country through the World Cup Finals. His story, one laced with silked, Europe’s answer to the famed Maradona. His manager even claiming ‘The angles sing in his legs.’
Baggio at the peak of his powers went on to score at every knockout game in the tournament as the Talisman of the Italian side and quite clearly the best player in the World Cup alongside his teammates, ventured into a Final. To at the point three time winners Brazil. Normal time ended 0-0 in a suspenseful and anxiety causing manor, then extra time in the same fashion.
Penalties!
Misses and goals, it all ends up on Baggio to save his country as the 5th penalty taker…
Over the Bar. A moment defing his legacy, a player with an icing in the sweetest variety yet a moment with an aftertaste of the most piercing pain. Baggio after the shot that skied over the goal leaving his team in defeat and country in false hope stood there in disbelief. Forever known by football fans as ‘The man who died standing,’ Roberto Baggio.
The World Cup returns in Qatar 22, though at a peculiar time during the Winter break and not the Summer, this occurring because of Qatar’s harsh sun and temperatures it produces in the Summer not being safe for the best players in the World to be playing 90 minutes every other day However, this is not where the controversy really lies.
In 2021 a Human Rights Watch organisation documented that Qatari Laws, regulations and practices were not up to other countries standards and that they actually imposed discriminatory and toxic masculine male guardianship rules. One woman, known as Noof Al Madeed,was quoted saying: “I was only allowed to go to school and back. Anything else and I can expect a beating.” This physical presence held over Qatari women leaves them unprotected and these women can’t even escape as the Law prohibits unmarried Qatari women under age 25 from travelling outside the country without permission from their male guardian. Many may say what does this have to do with a World Cup? We at Ink say it means everything. The World Cup quite literally brings the world together. This can’t be possible in a time when not everyone can be entitled to the same opportunity and rights as everyone else.
Not only is it just women that have been denied rights that have been fought over for generations but also their anti-gay laws. A study showed that 43% of people in the UK believe that England and Wales should not be participating in the Tournament given Qatar’s law. Then leading on before the start of the World Cup one of the Qatar officials said homosexuality is ‘damage in the mind.’ These issues are ones that must be confronted.
England Captain Harry Kane and the England Squad were going to play every game with an armband saying ‘One Love,’ a similar protest to the taking of the knee before the Premier League games, showcasing political issues that must be dealt with on the world stage with millions watching. They were ready to take impending fines set however, a decision rather from the team or higher ups decided to retract from this. Once again showing nothing will change unless people group together to make a change and if it can’t come from some of our footballing heroes, who will it come from. In lighter news, a team did begin to stand up for the women and those of the LGBTQ community hiding in Qatar. The German Team in their photo decided to cover their mouths to symbolise ‘No voice,’ reflecting how the women and LGBTQ people in Qatar don’t have a voice and bringing a light to it on a world stage.