The World Cup is a perfect advert for racial tolerance

Sad stories about the ill-treatment of migrant workers continue to baffle us. Their discrimination continues to rare its ugly head. From the moment Qatar was chosen to be the host country of the World Cup 12 years ago, a lot took place.

We saw sad stories involving fatalities, injuries, and deportation of migrant workers during the renovation and construction of world cup infrastructure in preparation to host the beautiful game. The construction sector needed workers, and migrant workers were attracted by the opportunities created.

So, they went there to offer skills in constructing stadiums and accommodation facilities so that Qatar was ready to stage the big football show. In the process, we witnessed the racial intolerance of migrant workers. Against these injustices, Qatar met the objective of being ready for the World Cup. And so, the World Cup is happening there, progressing toward the most competitive stages.

Sadly, Qatar is among the countries that have already fallen out. We are happy to see the multi-racial composition of the participating teams. 

Before Australia defeated Peru to qualify for the ongoing Fifa World Cup, very few people knew anything about a young man called Awer Mabil. Mabil, 26, is a lad born and raised in the Kakuma refugee camp after his family fled the madness that has plagued South Sudan forever. The young man and his family would later relocate to Australia, where he enhanced his football potential. Then he was selected to play for the Australian national soccer team. He scored the final penalty that qualified Australia for the ongoing World Cup. You see! It is not easy to avoid the debate about migrant workers, refugees, and racism.

We see the significant contribution of migrant workers among the participating teams. Some countries have assembled teams consisting of nationals of multiple origins. In football and sports generally, nowadays, migrants are gaining influence, except for a few teams. 

The list of migrant workers that overcome racism and other barriers to shine on the world stage is growing every year. These people have gone ahead to make some countries big winners. Yet we continue to see many ‘evils’ around the world that happen to stop the migration of people.

We have seen some states enacting laws to allow them to push back new arrivals. That is why today, 100 million are displaced. The number continues to grow, while states are happy to shut them out. So sad!

The ongoing World Cup can be the perfect advertisement for people of different races. It is the best place to show the potential of migrant workers and how a multi-racial community is the best environment for success. Remember that France won the Fifa World Cup in 2018 with a highly multi-racial team. If France had lost it, there would be a different debate. But the many races won it for France. They are still going strong in the ongoing edition. So, at the World Cup, we have the perfect stage to provide visibility for migrant workers. 

We urge the world to put aside racial tendencies and allow talent to prevail. Then we will have many more Awer Mabils who will turn states into winners as we will find out later this month. The World Cup is a good advert for the contribution of migrant workers. Hopefully, after the tournament, we will see fewer cases of discrimination against people at borders. We will see many more countries granting safe and orderly passage of refugees into their countries.

Hopefully, we will see less involvement of border guarders in trying to stop the entry of fleeing people into their countries. Hopefully, for the first time, we will not hear of the drowning of scores of people in the Mediterranean Sea. Then we will have a world where everybody feels worthy.

Mr Simon J. Mone is a Civil Engineer 

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