Socio-Economic Implications of the 2022 Qatar World Cup

Will Qatar be left with a $299 Billion Dollar Bus Depot

J. C. Lai

With a few days left until the most prolific tournament in world football, it is hard not to be excited for the commencement of the World Cup. However, a look into the deeply troubling financial and labour management of the host country raises serious concerns for the social and economic implications to Qatar.

An initial look at the impact of hosting a World Cup brings a lot of upsides to it. By having the highest viewed event in the world, Qatar will certainly see a dramatic rise in tourism, foreign trade, economic development, and job creation. Bloomberg is predicting a tourism upsurge of 1.5 million and a $17 billion increase in domestic economic activity during the month.

However, in order to capitulate for this sudden influx of tourism, infrastructure would be required to be invested in, which is funded by taxation revenue and debt. This necessity of investment leads to a misallocation of resources towards inefficient and futile infrastructure and industries, leading to a wastage of government expenditure and hence damaging the welfare of the local citizens. 

Let’s take the 2014 Brazil World Cup as an example. Infrastructure totalled to a sum of $11.6 billion but the majority ended up being useless after the World Cup, such as the $1 billion state of the art Mane Garrincha Stadium which now serves as a bus depot. This significant sum placed a large burden on taxation revenue and raised government debt exponentially, leading to significant repercussions on the socioeconomic state of the country. Firstly, increased government debt led to higher interest rates, and tarnishing economic activity, which is counter-intuitive to the objectives of hosting the tournament. Secondly, the need to accommodate the large temporary influx of tourism led to around 250,000 to 1,500,000 local citizens being forced to abandon their homes, with few receiving compensation. Lastly, to find the money needed for the event, they had to cancel promised bus and railway projects. Two projects which would have significantly boosted the productive capacity of the country and increased the wellbeing of the local population. 

The repercussions created significant tensions with the Brazilian people and the government and led to a significant wastage of government revenue which would have been better spent in productive investments. This effect is likely to be repeated or even worsened in the upcoming Qatar World Cup, seeing the host country has spent over $229 billion on the tournament, which is 4 times the combined budget since the 1990 world cups.

Furthermore, the aforementioned benefits of economic development, job creation, tourism, and foreign trade only lasts during the World Cup months and will see a stabilisation to pre-world cup levels within months after the tournament. Employment, especially in the hospitality sector, will see a sudden increase during the months of November and December, but mass-unemployment will likely ensue, as businesses have to offset employees due to the dramatic decrease in demand. To make matters even worse, the host-country may even witness a phenomenon known as ‘negative tourism’, where normal tourism sees declines due to higher rates of congestion and higher prices as a result of the World Cup, leading to a fall in potential economic activity generated. This was evident in the 1998 French World Cup, where the number of normal tourists declined to 13% of the previous year. 

The desire for cheap labour to offset the dramatic costs of running a World Cup has also seen human rights exploitation and abuse, providing even worse social implications to the tournament. This is seen through the exploitation of migrant workers from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal working in infrastructure developments for the Khalifa Stadium, where numerous sources claim unethical and illegal behaviours by recruitment agents. Shamim, a Bangladeshi migrant worker for the Khalifa Stadium claims, “I remember my first day in Qatar. Almost the very first thing [an agent] working for my company did was take my passport. I haven’t seen it since,” revealing how workers are forced to work and are not allowed to leave the country until their jobs are done. Furthermore, workers are seen residing in appalling and illegal living conditions, with workers being crammed into rooms of eight or more, which is illegal according to Qatari law and the Workers’ Welfare Standards, which only allow a maximum of four people. False promises and delayed salaries are also made towards employees, leading to many unable to support their families and make payments on recruitment related loans. 

Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup draws significant economic and social concerns into the country and draws the question of: “What is the point in hosting a world cup?” The expected revenue of $17 billion comes nowhere close to the $229 billion spent on the obsolete infrastructure and capital and has led to the abuse of human rights standards. Ultimately, countries should factor in the cost towards the country’s citizen and economy before splashing billions on hosting a World Cup as a means of national superiority and bragging rights.