Qatar recently announced it will make a bid for the 2036 Olympics because of the success of the World Cup, but many members of the public remain critical of FIFA’s decision to allow Qatar to host the World Cup in the first place.
Now, new research is looking at how Americans feel about Qatar hosting the World Cup and other international sporting events.
Public opinion of Qatar hosting the World Cup has shifted over the course of the tournament — and perhaps not in the direction you’d assume, according to a survey by The Economist and YouGov. More Americans believe it’s wrong for the country to host now than did before the tournament started.
Surveyed less than a week into the World Cup, 45% of American adults said it is wrong for Qatar to host the World Cup “due to Qatar’s human rights record and stance on LGBTQ+ rights,” while 18% said it is right and 37% were unsure, according to the survey.
These findings differ from the data collected two weeks prior.
In mid-November, The Economist and YouGov found that before the World Cup started, 36% of Americans believed it was wrong for Qatar to host, 23% believed it was right and 41% where unsure.
Qatar’s human rights record
Ahead of the World Cup, Qatar came under fire for its treatment of migrant workers, especially those who built the World Cup stadiums.
The Guardian reported last year that 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar since 2010 when the country was awarded the rights to host the World Cup.
In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, a top Qatari official said the actual death toll is between 400 and 500, much higher than the Qatari government’s original reporting of 40, according to Front Office Sports.
The most recent of The Economist’s and YouGov’s two surveys found that 57% of Americans think a nation’s human rights record should be a moderate or major factor determining if it is allowed to host international sporting events like the World Cup.
Should the U.S. men’s national team have boycotted the 2022 World Cup?
Leading up to the World Cup, there were rumors that teams would protest Qatar’s stance on homosexuality. Cities such as London and Paris boycotted the tournament by not hosting public screenings of the matches, as the Deseret News reported.
Should teams have taken it a step further and boycotted the entire tournament?
Both the original and most recent surveys found that Americans were closely divided on whether the U.S. men’s national team should have boycotted the 2022 World Cup.
Prior to the start of the World Cup, only 29% of Americans believed the U.S. should have boycotted, and that number only increased by 3% when the most recent survey.
Hispanic Americans were more likely to believe the team should have boycotted than Black and White Americans. Respondents age 30-44 were more likely to support boycotting than those ages 18-29.
The U.S. was eliminated in the World Cup on Saturday after a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands but has automatically qualified for the 2026 World Cup because the U.S. is cohosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico.
But fans don’t have to wait four years to watch the U.S. because the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup starts in July, and the U.S. is looking to become the first three-peat champions.