For the Portuguese national football team, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is over, but the ball is still rolling in Parliament. And that’s just after liquidation of the Portuguese teamthat Parliament decided to hold a vote condemning the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar. The project presented by PAN was approved by the votes of almost all parties, including the PS bench, after its general secretary and prime minister traveled to Qatar more than once to watch the selection games. The verdict was approved by votes in favor of IL, PCP, BE, PAN, PS and Livre. The SDP abstained, while Chega voted against the verdict.
At the end of the vote, the leader of the PS parliamentary group, Eurico Brillante Diaz, announced that he would issue a written statement on the vote on behalf of the socialist group.
In its draft resolution, the PAN underlined “serious suspicions of corruption in the process of attributing the World Cup to Qatar, reaching high-ranking officials of FIFA, UEFA and politicians, issues of flagrant violations of human rights, with the exploitation of workers migrants to build stadiumsviolations of the rights of women and the LGBTI+ community, as well as the breakdown of diplomatic relations and environmental impact issues” and calls on FIFA to be held accountable.
In addition to the deaths of more than 6,500 workers building stadiums and infrastructure, according to organizations such as Human Rights Watch, “Qatar is a country where homosexuality is punished by imprisonment for a term of one to three years, sex outside of marriage is also punished by flagellation or the death penalty. and women who report rape could be charged with consensual sex,” he added. “Nevertheless, and in spite of all human rights violations, the President of the Republic, the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the government traveled to Qatar to watch Portugal play in the World Cup, which PAN believes is incomprehensible,” the text delivered on November 18 reads. and approved this Friday.
The discussion around the trip of Portuguese political representatives to Qatar has already been discussed in Parliament regarding the trips of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the President of the Assembly of the Republic to watch the 2022 World Cup group stage games. .
Despite criticism from some parliamentary groups and some civil society organizationsthese three figures went to Qatar on behalf of the Republic, “observe traditions”🇧🇷 And not only them. When the prime minister unable to travel for health reasonsassured that he would be replaced by Ana Catarina Méndez, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in charge of the sports portfolio.
On the day of the trip to Portugal’s first game in the competition, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that “Qatar does not respect human rights”, but underestimated the centrality of this issue during sports competitions. “Qatar does not respect human rights. All the stadium building and stuff like that, but let’s forget about that. This is not desirable, but let’s focus on the team. We started very well and ended on a high note,” he said.
