A coalition of 15 Swiss civil society organizations said in a press conference that they object to the cancellation of the Fan Zone for FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar, which was planned to be set up in the “Plaine de Plainpalais” in Geneva.
“Our opposition mainly concerns the politicization of sports and collective and cultural events represented by this late cancellation of the said event,” the organizers said in a statement on Saturday.
The organizations added that this cancellation is based on a “blatant political decision which testifies to the instrumentalization of human rights and the pretext of the energy crisis used for purely political purposes directed against Qatar.”
The press conference was coordinated by the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health and organized by 15 civil society organizations based in Geneva.
In his speech at the conference, Mr Guy Mettan, Former President of the Geneva Parliament, said that he is annoyed by the cancellation of the Fan Zone. Although he is not passionate about football, he finds it “unfair to attack Qatar” in this matter.
“Regarding the human rights issue, Qatar must assume its responsibilities. This type of pretext must not be used to exclude Qatar from organizing such an event, and this includes the right to Fan zones,” Mettan added.
Also speaking at the conference is François Deroche, President of the NGO Justice and rights without borders and Former President of the National Union of Federal Physicians. Deroche said that human rights organizations must defend French, Swiss, and Europeans to have the right to enjoy this type of event. He thinks someone is behind this movement for the cancellation of the Fan zones. “these attacks are coordinated,” he stated.
Programme coordinator of the International Institute for Rights and Development, Laurence Brulin, also confirmed that these massive accusations made by the media are without proof, and she finds them “shocking.”
The conference coordinator, Nidal Salim, the Director General of the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH), said that football is a language of peace and communication and a source of high-quality life for many people. “Thus, the cancellation of the fan zone determines people’s lives and prevents them from enjoying an extraordinary moment that presents the pleasure and joy of watching the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.”
The conference organizers said that the Swiss media has launched an aggressive campaign against Qatar, “fueled by the language of hatred and racism, combined with Islamophobia because they cannot imagine that a small Arab and Islamic country could succeed in hosting a major international event.”
The 15 human rights NGOs noted that the information disseminated by the Swiss media is “false, inaccurate and without any official scientific reference.” They added that this information comes from specific media that political parties support. The organizations also believe this campaign is politically oriented and with “deep meanings of racism.”
Finally, the Swiss civil society organizations called the boycott of the World Cup in Qatar racist, ethnocentric and hypocritical and called on the complaining countries to respect the rules of the culture of the host countries, its values and ethics.
