List of 2022 FIFA World Cup controversies

[1][2][11][12] Boycotts of the event were declared by several countries, clubs, and individual players,[11][12] while former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has twice said that giving Qatar hosting rights was a "mistake".

[19] Others have suggested that Qatar's human rights record is better than those of Russia and China, nations which received less widespread criticism for similar issues when hosting major sporting events in the years prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

[22] After a thorough investigation, the International Labour Organization, claimed the figures "misleading" and said they had been wrongly linked to World Cup sites without proper context in November 2022 via reported drafted by France24.

Furthermore, according to a statement by ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) General Secretary Sharan Burrow, who had previously been a harsh critic of Qatar's labour laws, workers can now obtain justice in the country.

According to then vice-president Jack Warner, an email has been publicised about the possibility that Qatar 'bought' the 2022 World Cup through bribery via Mohammed bin Hammam who was president of the Asian Football Confederation at the time.

[41] On 1 June 2014, The Sunday Times claimed to have obtained documents including e-mails, letters and bank transfers which allegedly proved that Bin Hammam had paid more than 5 million US dollars to Football officials to support the Qatar bid.

[57] FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger said that awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar's desert state was a "blatant mistake", and that any potential shift to a winter event would be unmanageable due to the effect on major European domestic leagues.

[65] In addition to objections by European leagues, Frank Lowy, chairman of Football Federation Australia, said a change of the 2022 World Cup date from summer to winter would upset the schedule of the A-League and said they would seek compensation from FIFA should the decision go ahead.

[67] In September 2013, it was alleged that FIFA had held talks with broadcasters over the decision to change the date of the World Cup as it doing so could cause potential clashes with other scheduled television programming.

It was also confirmed that the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations would be moved from January to June to prevent African players from having a relatively quick two-week turnaround, although the monsoonal rainy season in its host country Guinea starts about that time.

[61] Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan told the Australian Associated Press that holding games in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and possibly Saudi Arabia would help to accommodate the people of the region during the tournament.

[105] In February 2022, the communications executive director at the supreme committee, Fatma Al-Nuaimi, stated in an interview that alcohol would be available in designated fan zones outside stadiums and in other Qatari official hospitality venues.

[109][110][111] On 30 November 2022, The Times published an interview with some female fans attending FIFA World Cup 2022 games, with some of them saying that less drunkenness among other attendees made them feel safer at the stadiums than they expected.

Notably, members of the UEFA Working Group such as Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States were specifically targeted for their involvement in trying to improve the conditions for migrant workers, women, and LGBT people.

[169] Days prior to the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar was accused of reportedly having paid actors to play the role of fans at the tournament in order to promote the country.

"[179] However, article published by CNN during the World Cup claimed that the supporters who were on a budget and were unable to afford what's on offer from hotels, eight fan villages provide “casual camping and cabin-style” options.

[195] An outspoken critic of Qatar's selection as World Cup host, Wahl had been briefly detained while wearing a t-shirt depicting a rainbow at an earlier game during the tournament (United States vs Wales).

[206] Although the reason has not been revealed, a few hours after the result of Morocco defeated Portugal in the quarter-final was shown on TV3, the director general of Public Establishment of Television, Chabane Lounakel was dismissed by the Algerian government.

It highlighted the French satirical newspaper Le Canard enchaîné, which published a cartoon of bearded men wearing Qatar football jerseys holding knives, guns, and rocket launchers;[211] and the German television network Welt, on which a presenter described the Tawhid Islamic salute performed by Moroccan players after they defeated Portugal as "the signature hand gesture of members of ISIS".

[213][214][215] E-newsletter Morocco World News criticised Danish television network TV 2, which it said was racist for a panel of presenters comparing the way Moroccan players reached over spectators to embrace their mothers to monkeys huddling,[216] while the blog site Al Bawaba saw someone post criticism of Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant for printing on the day of their semi-final, a cartoon of Morocco players with shaved heads taking the World Cup trophy from Infantino.

[217][better source needed] Hassan Al Thawadi, the head of the Qatar World Cup, called some of the BBC's coverage of the tournament "extremely racist" and charged Gary Lineker with not engaging with the organisers before criticising them directly.

[218][219] Al Thawadi said since February, he had tried several times to have a meeting between the officials organising the World Cup and the hosts and pundits of the BBC, especially Lineker, but there was never any desire to listen to the Qatari side of the story.

The Daily Telegraph reported on emails showing efforts to arrange a meeting between Al Thawadi and BBC hosts and pundits ahead of the World Cup draw in April.

[234][235] Cologne-based supermarket chain REWE cut all ties with the German Football Association (DFB) with immediate effect on 23 November as the company's CEO Lionel Souque moved to disassociate them from the sport, calling FIFA's actions in the early days of the tournament "scandalous", and even electing to waive its pre-existing advertising rights.

[238] Many Serbian fans displayed slogans and attire related to the Yugoslav Wars, such as "Serbia to Tokyo", and made racist chants and gestures toward Albanians during the second half of the game.

[265][266] After the end of the game, Mateu Lahoz issued a red card to Netherlands player Denzel Dumfries, however, no TV commentator picked up on this, leaving viewers who checked the match reports afterward puzzled.

[269] Given the general confusion surrounding the game's total of yellow cards and several contradictions when various match reports are viewed, it is unclear how many players Mateu Lahoz booked in this one incident.

[270] Messi also criticised the Netherlands manager: "Louis van Gaal says they play good football, but what he did was put tall people and spam long balls" and blamed Mateu Lahoz for causing the game to go on longer than it should have: "The referee sent us into extra time".

After the final whistle, several Uruguayan players confronted the referee and other FIFA officials over what they deemed as controversial decisions during the course of the game, and while walking down the tunnel towards the dressing rooms, Edinson Cavani pushed over the VAR monitor.

[297][better source needed] Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, after winning the Golden glove trophy (which resembles a giant hand), placed it on his groin and pointed towards fans in front of the FIFA president and Qatari Emir, which some detractors saw as a vulgar gesture.