Human Rights Violations in the Name of Football : A Qualitative Content Analysis on the Human Rights Violations against Migrant Workers during the preparation and delivery of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

Abstract: The 2022 FIFA World Cup for men's football has received massive criticism since it was announced in December 2010 that Qatar would host it. With a significant history of human rights violations, many were shocked that Qatar was elected. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media reported on the ongoing abuses in the country and warned about the consequences of Qatar hosting the World Cup. Therefore, this thesis will examine these consequences and how preparations for the World Cup affect human rights in Qatar – specifically migrant workers' rights. The focus will be on Qatar, companies working with the World Cup, and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), addressing and analyzing their responsibilities and obligations. The thesis is a descriptive analysis discussing how migrant workers' rights were violated and neglected. It is also a normative analysis that will analyze what should and could have been done to prevent it. Both Qatar's legal system and the regulation of international standards for human rights and business will be analyzed in the text. This thesis will shed light on the football world and its relation to human rights, as well as who bears the primary responsibility to ensure human rights in the preparation and execution of the World Cup. It will discuss how football and human rights affect each other, aiming to show that football organizations influence societies and social structures. Football is not only a sport but a tool that can either improve or worsen people's availability to human rights. This thesis is based on two different theories: A Marxist perspective on conflict theory and Corporate Social responsibility theory. To answer the research questions through these theories, this thesis has used a qualitative data analysis method to analyze different reports and documents from NGOs, Qatar, FIFA, and the United Nations. The thesis concludes with a summary highlighting FIFA as the prime duty bearer during the preparation and delivery of the World Cup, as well as acknowledging that Qatar, FIFA, and companies' lack of improvement and monitoring contributes to the enforcement of modern slavery/forced labor.