According to Secretary of State Maarten van Ooijen (Public Health, Welfare and Sport), the Netherlands has received broad support from other EU member states for giving the human rights situation more weight in the allocation of major sporting events .
“We have asked the European Commission to put the matter high on the agenda and to use its influence during its international contacts and with trade unions,” Van Ooijen said after a meeting of European sport ministers in Brussels.
“For the Dutch cabinet, respect for human rights is paramount in organizing and allocating sporting events,” said the secretary of state, who replaced sports minister Conny Helder, who is based in Qatar. The World Cup in Qatar “forced us to face the facts, but we shouldn’t act only after,” he says.
Qatari dilemmas
“Everyone sees the enormous dilemmas that the situation in Qatar evokes.” According to Van Ooijen, putting the human rights situation on the agenda requires “constant maintenance”. And he certainly shouldn’t focus only on balls, but on all sporting events.
The Netherlands also calls on the European Commission, the executive board of the European Union, to outline the actions taken by international sports organizations to ensure that human rights are taken seriously in the allocation of major sporting events.
Van Ooijen’s party, ChristenUnie, along with coalition partner D66 and several other parties oppose the government’s decision to send a delegation to Qatar. Helder is the first to go to Qatar. The Netherlands progressed to the next round, but the government has not yet announced who will go to the World Cup next.
One Love
During the match won by the Netherlands national team of host country Qatar, Helder (VVD) was sitting in the stands with a OneLove pin. In Doha he also spoke about human rights with the Qatari authorities, with the international trade union ILO and with migrant workers.
According to the government, major international sporting events provide a platform for drawing attention to social issues.
Source: BNR
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