Qatar Was A Mistake World Cup Does Not Belong There And So I Will Not Be Going

As tournament director of Euro 2024, I am meeting many people from the huge German football base. They are children in jerseys with whom I take selfies, youth coaches who teach rules to their players, presidents of small clubs who have been volunteers for decades. They all love the lightness of football, know its educational power, appreciate its importance to our community.

- Philipp Lahm

When the conversation turns to Qatar, however, their tone becomes serious. Many consider missing a World Cup voluntarily for the first time in their lives. In the past, a World Cup was a folk festival, for children a football initiation for life. Today, some amateur clubs think about leaving the beer tables and the screen in the storeroom. What this makes clear to me again is that giving the World Cup to Qatar was a mistake. It doesn't belong there.

Even the Fifa procedure was problematic. It was unusual that two tournaments were awarded simultaneously for the first time. Qatar and Russia won the bids, although there was stronger competition. The match schedule in Qatar had to be postponed from summer to winter. The heat in the desert had not been considered at first, although an internal Fifa report had warned against it and also pointed out other deficits of the Qatari bid.

Other reasons must have been decisive in December 2010. Many of Fifa's 24 elected officials were later banned, punished or legally prosecuted; two had been suspended before the election.

Another lesson from Qatar: in future, human rights must become an indispensable criterion at major sporting events. Qatar has made progress in response to criticism from fans and research by the media by ratifying some agreements under international law and introducing the minimum wage. But gay people are still criminalised, women do not have the same rights as men and freedom of the press and freedom of expression are restricted.