Paola Schietekat was sexually abused in Qatar, but the authorities of that country ended up accusing her of having an extramarital relationship.

Paola Schietekat went from victim to guilty in a second. The Mexican lived her dream while working at the Organizing Committee of the World Cup in Qatar when she was sexually abused, but instead of punishing the aggressor, now it is Paola who faces a sentence of seven years in prison and 100 lashes

https://mexicodailypost.com/2022/02/18/qatar-2022-mexican-woman-who-denounced-sexual-abuse-was-instead-punished-with-a-crime/

Fortunately, Paola managed to leave Qatar, thanks to the help of Human Rights Watch and the World Cup Organizing Committee itself, and return to Mexico, where she was when she found out that she had been sentenced to seven years in prison and one hundred lashes. while his attacker had been acquitted.

Good that she is out but a stark reminder of the absurdities of this tournament for female fans

Fucking hell.

I thought it was a good idea to pile all this stuff on one thread, just to constantly remind us how insane this venture is.

Have FIFA even reacted to this?

Follow the money.

Oh. That wasn't as hard as I thought.

How many here are actually gonna boycott the Qatar WC, and not watch any of the games?

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/22/1082291230/kentucky-derby-winner-medina-spirit

Boycott is too strong a word but I am a lot less keen on it than in previous years.

Same with the winter olympics.

Same. I’m not (yet) committing to a complete boycott but I would normally watch every minute humanly possible, and certainly won’t be for this one.

<<How many here are actually gonna boycott the Qatar WC, and not watch any of the games?>>

I will!

How many here are actually gonna boycott the Qatar WC, and not watch any of the games?

The England team will help by going out as early as possible.

How many here are actually gonna boycott the Qatar WC, and not watch any of the games?

Unless you're paying to watch the games (either at the stadium, or on a stream), not watching them will have precisely no effect whatsoever.

The England team will help by going out as early as possible.

I doubt they will, would expect them to get through their group, and after that into the 1/4s unless they get a bitch of a draw in the 16s

The 8s, Shirley?

Part of what has previously made big tournaments interesting to me was the focus on the host country. It was a chance to learn more about the footballing culture, the stadia, the wider history etc. It also bought a lot of flavour to the tournament, making each one stand out.

The recent ones have been a bit crap though. The World Cup in Russia tainted by the way they won it. The Euros split between so many countries that it lacked in any sense of cohesion. And now the vulgar brutality of Qatar.

On top of that I've drifted away from watching England over the last few years, and I'm finding myself completely underwhelmed by the whole prospect.

I just hope players make some sort of statement - without that then fans not watching will not make much difference.

I would love it if Gareth just name dropped this woman in an interview.

would expect them to

We'll have to see. We've got form.

Certainly, somebody at the FA should be answering questions about this.

Nothing is going to change wrt to Qatar hostingOf course a reduced TV audience will have an impact on future advertising revenues and thus on future hosting decisions by FIFA.

In the most recent two tournaments they have played, England have got to the last round of matches, and the team should be just as strong this time.

Fifa and the individual nations have shown almost zero intention to do any kind of protest, so it would be good to see the players step up.