DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Far from Doha's luxury hotels and sprawling new World Cup stadiums, scores of South Asian workers poured into a cricket ground in the city’s sandy outskirts to enjoy the tournament they helped create.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The World Cup 2010 in South Africa had Shakira. The 1998 tournament in France had Ricky Martin.
For many fans, the unofficial soundtrack of the World Cup in Qatar is fast becoming the incessant chanting of street marshals, better knows as Last Mile Marshals.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The Netherlands is not expected to emulate Germany by making a gesture to protest host nation Qatar's human rights record before Friday's World Cup game against Ecuador.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Gianni Infantino said he feels gay. That he feels like a woman. That he feels like a migrant worker. He lectured Europeans for criticizing Qatar’s human rights record and defended the host country’s last-minute decision to ban beer from World Cup stadiums.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar coach Felix Sanchez says criticism of the World Cup host will not be allowed to destabilize his team.
Qatar kicks off the tournament against Ecuador on Sunday with the eyes of the world on the emirate, which has faced criticism for its human rights record, including its treatment of migrant workers and the LGBTQ community.
BERLIN (AP) — Normally when the World Cup comes around, Germans happily wave their country’s flag and enthusiastically back their team.
Not this time.
Anyone walking around Berlin this week will struggle to notice any signs of World Cup fervor.
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen became the latest Bundesliga club to criticize the World Cup in Qatar by describing the decision to award the tournament to the country as “scandalous” on Tuesday.
LONDON (AP) — Just minutes after finishing the last Premier League match before the World Cup, Manchester United duo Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen both questioned the decision to stage the tournament in Qatar.
BERLIN (AP) — Seven days before the World Cup is due to start in Qatar, former Germany captain Philipp Lahm says it was “a mistake” to award the tournament to the Gulf Arab country.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch World Cup squad will meet a group of migrant workers in Qatar after a training session there ahead of the team's first match as part of the Dutch soccer federation's push to promote human rights at the tournament.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — England coach Gareth Southgate doesn't expect his players to refrain from speaking up about issues regarding human rights during the World Cup in Qatar.
Speaking at the announcement of his 26-man squad for the tournament on Thursday, Southgate added that a decision is yet to be made over whether his team will take a knee before games in a stance against racism.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The outspoken CEO of Qatar Airways lashed out Thursday at critics of his country hosting the upcoming FIFA World Cup, saying his nation will “always rub salt into the wound” of its adversaries.
PARIS (AP) — A subsidiary of French construction company Vinci was handed preliminary charges Wednesday of forced labor and other alleged violations of the rights of migrant workers hired to build infrastructure in Qatar around the World Cup.
French construction company Vinci said on Monday that one of its subsidiaries has been summoned by an investigating judge to answer charges that it did not respect the rights of migrant workers who were hired to build infrastructure for the World Cup in Qatar.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — European nations, including England, are pushing FIFA for “concrete answers” on issues relating to migrant workers ahead of the World Cup.
The 10 nations speaking Sunday include eight with World Cup-bound teams that have committed to captains wearing One Love armbands in breach of FIFA-written rules.
GENEVA (AP) — FIFA's top officials have urged the 32 teams preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Thousands of goals scored in Danish soccer in November will raise money for migrant workers who helped build World Cup projects in Qatar, Denmark’s soccer federation said on Monday.
Qatar summoned the German ambassador on Friday over remarks by Germany's interior minister, who appeared to criticize the decision to award the World Cup to the Gulf Arab nation because of its human rights record.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The Australian men’s soccer team has issued a three-minute video highlighting Qatar’s human rights record, including its treatment of foreign workers and restrictions on the LGBTQI+ community, and demanding genuine reform as a legacy of the Gulf country’s staging of the World Cup.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar's ruling emir on Tuesday lashed out at criticism of his country over its hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, describing it as an “unprecedented campaign” targeting the first Arab nation to hold the tournament.
Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AP) — In nearly every corner of the globe, people are spending more on food and fuel, rent and transportation.
GENEVA (AP) — The first World Cup in the Middle East is one month away, nearing the conclusion of an often bumpy 12-year journey for Qatar that has transformed the nation.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox plans to avoid coverage of Qatar’s controversial treatment of migrant workers during World Cup broadcasts, much as it didn’t address criticism of Russia’s government during the 2018 tournament.
GENEVA (AP) — FIFA wants to help workers in Qatar get compensation for being injured while building projects for the World Cup, one of the soccer body’s top officials told European lawmakers on Thursday.
PARIS (AP) — Paris will not broadcast World Cup matches on giant screens in public fan zones amid concerns over rights violations of migrant workers and the environmental impact of the tournament in Qatar.
GENEVA (AP) — Denmark will wear team jerseys at the World Cup that protest the human rights record of host nation Qatar, with a black option unveiled Wednesday to honor migrant workers who died during construction work for the tournament.
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Trade Organization said Tuesday the benefits of working with FIFA to create more jobs in Africa outweighed concerns about the controversies around Qatar hosting soccer’s World Cup this year.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — With 100 days to go until the World Cup starts in Qatar, Human Rights Watch on Friday again urged FIFA and the host nation to improve compensation for migrant workers and their families.
BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich is realizing that all publicity is not necessarily good publicity.
Bayern’s chief executive, Oliver Kahn, defended the German soccer club’s contentious sponsorship agreement with Qatar on Monday, saying he was sure their partnership had helped bring positive change to the oil-rich Persian Gulf state.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said migrant workers gain pride from hard work when he was questioned on Monday about workers suffering in Qatar while building World Cup infrastructure.
Despite the abuses, Infantino claimed workers would feel proud at being given the chance to construct stadiums for this year's tournament in the Gulf nation, earning a living rather than being given charity.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's president and Malaysia's prime minister looked on as officials signed an agreement Friday on the placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia during a meeting in Jakarta.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A dozen years of defending Qatar's suitability to host the World Cup can leave Hassan Al-Thawadi exasperated at the enduring glare of scrutiny and the accusatory, rather than celebratory, tone.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — World Cup host Qatar and FIFA received scathing criticism from within soccer on Thursday, a day before the tournament’s draw.
On their own territory. In their own house. By a member of soccer's extended family.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the ferocious financial backlash it’s unleashed are not only inflicting an economic catastrophe on President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Fans can start registering to buy Qatar World Cup tickets on Wednesday with prices for visitors starting at around $70, one-third cheaper than the tournament in Russia, The Associated Press has learned.
PARIS (AP) — Human rights activists in France have urged the country’s soccer officials to pay attention to rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar a year before the World Cup.
Amnesty International activists unveiled a giant banner Wednesday in central Paris on the French soccer federation's building.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s national soccer team will wear “human rights messages” on their training clothes at next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Denmark earned a spot in the tournament last month.