The World Cup raised awareness of some hard truths – and the football wasn’t bad either

Editorial: It is possible both to enjoy the spectacle and to understand the moral failings of modern football

As an exercise in global consciousness-raising, the World Cup going ahead achieved more than if one or two countries had stayed away (AFP)

The Independent disagreed with those who called for a boycott of the World Cup. If British teams had refused to take part in the competition, it would have been no help to indentured labourers, or to the families of those who died in constructing the stadiums.

It was the right debate to have, however, and having it has ensured that people’s enjoyment of the tournament itself has been tempered by the knowledge that there was a price that was paid for it. But it was significant that the human rights groups that protested against the Qatari government’s abuses argued that the international attention paid to the country was more likely to promote liberal reform.

Some of that reform has happened. Qatar has improved workers rights, even if it has not done enough. But more people around the world know about the issues of human rights in Qatar and the rest of the Middle East; more people have heard of the kalafa system of bonded labour, now said by the Qatari government to be abolished; more people are aware of the idea of sportswashing – the attempt by regimes such as that in Qatar to use its oil wealth to buy the prestige attached to the world’s most popular sport.

As Tom Peck writes, “it was always known that, once the first ball was kicked, the questions would fade away”. So they did, but not completely. And new questions were raised. There was a row about players wearing or not wearing armbands promoting LGBT+ rights; there was coverage of players taking the knee as a gesture against racism and inequality; and there was a lot to be said about the Iranian team’s solidarity with democracy and women’s rights protests in their home country. Symbols and gestures all, but not to be dismissed. As an exercise in global consciousness-raising, the World Cup going ahead achieved more than if one or two countries had stayed away.

It is possible, after all, for people to enjoy a sporting competition while at the same time understanding some of its compromised morality. British football is already in thrall to the vast wealth of some of the global rich. The idea of playing football on sprinklered grass in air-cooled stadiums in the desert is a folly of environmental unsustainability, and yet the magic of what has unfolded on those pitches has uplifted and entertained as much as if the whole thing had been ethically spotless.

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The World Cup games themselves have been a sporting triumph. The football has been of the highest quality. The teamwork has been exceptional, and the individual virtuosity of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann has frequently taken the breath away.

The spirit with which the Moroccan side fought in the semi-final against France was a delight to watch. The England team played well and lost the quarter-final by a margin so fine that a place in the final was perfectly possible. It was possible to appreciate all this and yet to be mindful of the ways in which the sport’s international body falls short of the ideal.

May the best team win on Sunday, and we look forward to the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year.