University of Richmond professor Andy Spalding (second from right) taught law students (from left) Amanuel Mekonnen, Viktoriia Martynov and Dilwyn Piner, who volunteered as designated human rights observers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. (Photo courtesy University of Richmond School of Law)
Fans streaming into the gates at the recent FIFA World Cup in Qatar likely were so focused on cheering for their favorite teams that they didn’t notice an unobtrusive cadre of volunteers who were focused on them.
The volunteers were human rights observers, charged with monitoring and reporting possible violations, such as harassment of individuals for what they were wearing or how they looked. Among the volunteers, who were recruited worldwide, were three students from the University of Richmond’s School of Law, there to see in real life what they had discussed in theory.
The students, Viktoriia Martynov, Amanuel Mekonnen and Dilwyn Piner, are all in their third and final year at the law school. Last fall, they were enrolled in professor Andy Spalding’s Corporate Compliance and Contracts class, where they studied how large-scale sporting events can lead to a range of legal violations, including bribery for construction contracts and harmful labor practices.
At the Arab Cup held in Qatar in 2021, FIFA, the international soccer governing body, piloted a human rights watch effort in partnership with the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, a London-based nongovernmental organization. Then, a dozen volunteers interviewed attendees about assistance services for those with mobility issues, harassment in large crowds and privacy in prayer rooms. The program was expanded for last year’s World Cup, assigning roughly 100 volunteers to teams stationed at each stadium and at the FIFA Fan Festival, a public viewing location. While FIFA provides housing for observers, funding for airfare was paid by the university with the help of School of Law Dean Wendy Perdue.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Piner says. “I felt like we were taking a leap of faith, in a good way.”
Martynov, who is originally from Russia and wrote her thesis on sports diplomacy, says one of the observers’ jobs was to stay close to entry gates and monitor guard searches. If a search seemed protracted or excessive, the observer was instructed to approach the fan once it was over and gently ask questions about the experience.
Even if a fan didn’t complain, an observer could submit a report, which went to the team leader and then to the FIFA administration. “The majority of our work was to approach individuals after observing some sort of conflict,” Piner says.
Martynov says she was pleased to see the reports made a difference.
“I saw security guards not wearing gloves while they were searching diaper bags,” she says. “I communicated that and saw that, later, they were wearing gloves.”
Spalding notes that directives were complicated. FIFA policy prohibits political statements inside events, but human rights statements are allowed. “For example, you can’t wear a shirt that says ‘Iran is oppressive to women’; that’s political because it mentions a specific government,” Spalding says. “But a shirt that says ‘I stand with women around the world’ is OK because that’s about human rights. A rainbow shirt is the same.”
Piner says there was confusion surrounding LGBTQ+ apparel, banners and flags on the first day, with many hand-held items confiscated, but that seemed to decrease as the competition advanced. However, enforcement regarding the size of items brought into the stadium remained strict. “Guards definitely did break out rulers and tape measures,” he says.
Accessibility was also an issue. “There was one entity helping people get from transportation to the security gate, then another entity was helping people inside, beyond the gate,” Spalding says. “Sometimes, well-meaning individuals tried to help in ways that were really, really awkward.”
Mekonnen says many people he spoke with, even women who were asked to cover their shoulders and arms, were satisfied with how they were treated. “It seemed like a lot of the processes, especially on the fan side, seemed to work,” he says. “[People] didn’t feel unsafe, they didn’t feel uncomfortable with security. They could find help when they needed it. All the women we interviewed found security to be courteous. The ask was phrased in the way of respecting cultural differences.”
Professor Andy Spalding (second from right) led a team of human rights observers from Nigeria, Malaysia, India, Egypt and Palestine at Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar. (Photo courtesy Andy Spalding)
Women seemed to appreciate how the host nation limited the serving of alcohol, which was allowed only at certain hotel bars and the Fan Festival, but not in any of the arenas. “It felt a lot safer,” says Martynov, who has volunteered at other large international events. “People weren’t drunk, even when it was really crowded.”
Spalding agrees. “Women consistently spoke of feeling exceptionally safe and respected,” he says. “You can’t imagine what drunk soccer fans will do to women.”
Mekonnen, who was born in Ethiopia and has spent most of his life in the U.S., says he was able to have some conversations with Ethiopians who have experience living and working in Qatar. “They said there are still instances of racism and discrimination, but also instances where they have been treated with respect,” he says. “And conditions have improved over the years, especially with labor laws.”
Spalding acknowledges that the announcement of Qatar as the host nation initially caused concern over how people traveling to the Middle Eastern nation would be treated. But, he says, the efforts to support human rights paid off.
“I thought then and think now that seeing this event extend to a new part of the world that has not hosted mega sports events was beautiful,” he says. “You could feel the pride. This was a people, a region and a culture being validated from the most prestigious sporting event in the world. This human rights observer program is part of a broader set of human rights initiatives that Qatar has adopted willingly. The country used the World Cup as a catalyst to push human rights reforms. Nobody in the world cared about human rights in Qatar until they won the right to host the World Cup.”
