There has been a great deal of discussion of repression and rights in the lead-up to the World Cup in Qatar — but there’s one human rights issue that’s had unprecedented prominence during this tournament.
In an act of breathtaking bravura, Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi shaped as though he was going to thump his penalty into the bottom corner of the net and, as Spain’s goalkeeper dove out of the way, sent a mockingly gentle chip down the goal’s centre.
With that, Morocco had achieved the greatest result in their history, beating Spain — the overwhelming favourites and, all the sweeter, a former colonial power — and progressing to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup, the first Arab nation to get that far in the competition’s history.
It was a joyous, unrepeatable moment, the kind that can only happen at the World Cup. And to mark it, the team clustered around the flag of Palestine.
There has been a great deal of discussion of protest leading up to and during the Qatar World Cup. Iran’s team declined to sing its own national anthem in response to the repression of women in its home country. A handful of European teams announced they would give their captains rainbow armbands in support of LGBTIQA+ rights in a country that imprisons people for their gender expression or having same-sex relations.
Those teams backed down when threatened with sanctions on the pitch, although England has continued the anti-discrimination gesture of “taking a knee” before matches, and Germany pointedly covered their mouths in the team photo before their first game.
Elsewhere, Senegal’s Ismaïla Sarr celebrated his goal against Ecuador by covering his eyes and pointing an imaginary gun to his head, apparently a comment on international silence on atrocities afflicting Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
But the most persistent and visible subject of protest has been Palestine — certainly compared to any other major sporting event. Tunisian fans raised a huge “Free Palestine” flag during their game against Australia. An England supporter’s interview with an Israeli journalist went viral after his team beat Senegal 3-0 and he exclaimed: “It’s coming home! But more importantly, free Palestine!”
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