PARIS – Paris will not show matches from the World Cup in Qatar on big screens in the French capital, partly due to the “conditions” of the tournament, the city’s current deputy mayor for sports said yesterday.
Last year, a report from the United Nation’s International Labour Organisation said 50 migrant workers died in Qatar in 2020 and 500 others were seriously injured.
Several French cities have said they would not broadcast matches in public places, with Marseille’s socialist mayor Benoit Payan denouncing the competition as a “human and environmental disaster”.
“For us, there was no question of setting up big screen areas for several reasons: the first is the conditions in which this World Cup has been organised, both in terms of the environment and the social aspect,” said Pierre Rabadan.
“The second is the fact that it takes place in December.”
Qatari authorities have said that there have only been three deaths at World Cup stadiums in work accidents. – AFP, October 4, 2022
