Freedom to Write Index documents least 277 writers, academics, and public intellectuals in 36 countries in all geographic regions of the world unjustly imprisoned or held in detention in connection with their writing or other exercise of free expression in 2021. This was a slight increase from 2020, when 273 individuals were counted behind bars, but the past two years, covering the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, both represent a significant increase from 2019, when the Freedom to Write Index documented just 238 cases.
When FIFA convenes its 72nd Congress in Doha, Qatar, on March 31, 2022, in preparation for the World Cup, journalists, football associations, fans, and others should press both FIFA officials and Qatari authorities about human rights in the Gulf state, particularly the rights of migrant workers, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
National football associations preparing for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar are finding a difficult balance between promoting their teams’ laudable human rights concerns and speaking realistically about the abusive reality for many migrant workers building the games.