7 ms·

Two Norwegian journalists arrested after interviewing Qatar World Cup Manager

151 points by eisa01 5y ago

emaginniss 5y ago
What a lovely place. We should let them host one of the most important international sporting events.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- trompetenaccoun 5y ago
  Next year we'll also see the winter Olympics being hosted by a regime currently torturing Uyghurs in concentration camps. Which will allow only spectators who live in Mainland China. Great for the CCP, no pesky protesters when they're not even allowed in.
steve918 5y ago
The title is inflammatory if the events in the article are true. They were arrested for willful trespassing and then released shortly after. Hardly news worthy.
- varjag 5y ago
  They were arrested and released without explanation. The police PR dept then came up with trespassing story without any details.
- beervirus 5y ago
  Yes the Qataris absolutely deserve the benefit of the doubt here!
- ipaddr 5y ago
  They interviewed an important sports figure. They get arrested at the hotel questioned for 8 hours locked in different cells with 12 other inmates. They looked through all of their photos. Then they made up a trespassing charge but failed to mention where/when this happened. Title is not inflammatory enough.
  - pvaldes 5y ago
    And forced to sign a paper in an idiom that they didn't understood to be released, it seems. But the "we aren't interested in the event anymore" said by their bosses is very explanatory. There will be monetary consequences if the chains refuse to broadcast it or choose to put it in a worse hour. I bet that the offended channels are evaluating seriously this at this moment.
- hvs 5y ago
  "We interview the chairman at length after a ceremony, and return to our hotel at noon to fetch our equipment. We are then approached by 5 or 6 men who identify themselves as police and take us to the station," reporter Halvor Ekeland says. "We are questioned for eight hours in separate rooms, one at a time." Questioned 8 hours for trespassing? Right after the interview?
allendoerfer 5y ago
The West is a joke. Germany and two other countries could easily team up and hold an alternative World Cup. We could just unilaterally do it, the original one would instantly lose the bit of legitimacy it has left. But we are not even doing that. How is the world supposed to take us serious, when we are not exercising power, where we actually have it?
- ProjectArcturis 5y ago
  Yeah, FIFA went so far this time. They went from ordinary everyday corruption to cartoonish super-corruption. If a few prominent teams held an alternative World Cup it could have broken FIFA forever. But instead, here we are...
  - vadfa 5y ago
    >from ordinary everyday corruption to cartoonish super-corruption Got that reference!
- sharken 5y ago
  Well, just take a look at the Formula 1 calendar to see how the West is doing. Last three countries are: Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. It's as if we're not even trying and just condoning the way human rights are treated. https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2021.html https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2021.html
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - ethbr0 5y ago
    If you have money and want to buy a better global reputation without internal changes, I can't think of a better way than international sports.
- blocked_again 5y ago
  West is no longer powerful. 21st century is the century of India, China and Asia.
telesilla 5y ago
I've spent time in Qatar. It was weird, as a western woman I felt completely alien. Not just because of the desert dust and the stark stark glassy steel city that suddenly rises from it. Mostly we shuttled between a compound and fancy hotels, malls and yacht clubs. And my friends I was visiting were not even rich, just working regular expat jobs (in petro or gas of course, helicopter to work some days..). Those I know who stay there are going just a little mad. But slowly rich. Is it worth it?
- kzrdude 5y ago
  Mad in which way? The people I've heard about (professionally) who went to continue their career in Dubai, I couldn't really respect anymore. It's hard to understand choosing to work in that place.
  - telesilla 5y ago
    Mad in the way I imagine any colonialist ex-pat going mad, as empires threaten each other around you and you put on a white shirt and suffer through the heat. The same that happens and has happened since merchants and wealth-seekers have isolated themselves so much from reality (protected by the butlers and maids and drivers and security guards, never setting a foot in a local's house, neither a rich nor poor one) that finally they go all in and become regime apologetics.
    - cmrdporcupine 5y ago
      Reminds me of Orwell's "Shooting An Elephant"
  - chanc3e 5y ago
    People I know who’ve done it: • getting a drink (alcohol) is a major pain. Either underground, or some elite venue where rules don’t apply - and the jeopardy that goes with that. Really want to spill wine on a Prince? And there are a lot of princes. • feeling of underlying state level threat if you mess up • some workers are treated as literal slaves openly • getting your money home can be troublesome. Check out Dubai airport and abandoned super cars People who tend to fare better are very career focused and can ignore the above. Also if you or your partner are into the five star life. Edit: formatting
m-s 5y ago
NRK also published a detailed timeline of the events in Norwegian (Google Translate should work just fine): https://www.nrk.no/sport/sendte-denne-sms-en-_-sa-startet-nrk-journalistenes-qatar-mareritt-1.15743490 https://www.nrk.no/sport/sendte-denne-sms-en-_-sa-startet-nr...
outside1234 5y ago
Selection process driven by suitcases of money ... ... what could go wrong?
Geekette 5y ago
The Guardian's report gives more detail: Two Norwegian journalists investigating conditions for migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup ... Hours earlier, during a live broadcast for the Sportsrevyen news show on conditions for labourers working on World Cup venues, Ekeland had told viewers there were “stark contrasts”, with some workers “doing awfully”. ... Ekeland and Ghorbani had been in Qatar since 14 November and were due to meet Abdullah Ibhais, the former communications director for the 2022 World Cup organisers, who has since publicly criticised the Qatari regime. However, Ibhais, who is appealing against a five-year prison sentence for corruption, was arrested hours before the planned interview. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/norwegian-journalists-reporting-labourers-qatar-world-cup-arrested https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/norwegian-jour...

151 points by eisa01 5y ago

emaginniss 5y ago

What a lovely place. We should let them host one of the most important international sporting events.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
trompetenaccoun 5y ago
Next year we'll also see the winter Olympics being hosted by a regime currently torturing Uyghurs in concentration camps. Which will allow only spectators who live in Mainland China. Great for the CCP, no pesky protesters when they're not even allowed in.

steve918 5y ago

The title is inflammatory if the events in the article are true. They were arrested for willful trespassing and then released shortly after. Hardly news worthy.

varjag 5y ago
They were arrested and released without explanation. The police PR dept then came up with trespassing story without any details.
beervirus 5y ago
Yes the Qataris absolutely deserve the benefit of the doubt here!
ipaddr 5y ago
They interviewed an important sports figure. They get arrested at the hotel questioned for 8 hours locked in different cells with 12 other inmates. They looked through all of their photos. Then they made up a trespassing charge but failed to mention where/when this happened. Title is not inflammatory enough.
- pvaldes 5y ago
  And forced to sign a paper in an idiom that they didn't understood to be released, it seems. But the "we aren't interested in the event anymore" said by their bosses is very explanatory. There will be monetary consequences if the chains refuse to broadcast it or choose to put it in a worse hour. I bet that the offended channels are evaluating seriously this at this moment.
hvs 5y ago
"We interview the chairman at length after a ceremony, and return to our hotel at noon to fetch our equipment. We are then approached by 5 or 6 men who identify themselves as police and take us to the station," reporter Halvor Ekeland says. "We are questioned for eight hours in separate rooms, one at a time." Questioned 8 hours for trespassing? Right after the interview?

allendoerfer 5y ago

The West is a joke. Germany and two other countries could easily team up and hold an alternative World Cup. We could just unilaterally do it, the original one would instantly lose the bit of legitimacy it has left. But we are not even doing that. How is the world supposed to take us serious, when we are not exercising power, where we actually have it?

ProjectArcturis 5y ago
Yeah, FIFA went so far this time. They went from ordinary everyday corruption to cartoonish super-corruption. If a few prominent teams held an alternative World Cup it could have broken FIFA forever. But instead, here we are...
- vadfa 5y ago
  >from ordinary everyday corruption to cartoonish super-corruption Got that reference!
sharken 5y ago
Well, just take a look at the Formula 1 calendar to see how the West is doing. Last three countries are: Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. It's as if we're not even trying and just condoning the way human rights are treated. https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2021.html https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2021.html
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- ethbr0 5y ago
  If you have money and want to buy a better global reputation without internal changes, I can't think of a better way than international sports.
blocked_again 5y ago
West is no longer powerful. 21st century is the century of India, China and Asia.

telesilla 5y ago

I've spent time in Qatar. It was weird, as a western woman I felt completely alien. Not just because of the desert dust and the stark stark glassy steel city that suddenly rises from it. Mostly we shuttled between a compound and fancy hotels, malls and yacht clubs. And my friends I was visiting were not even rich, just working regular expat jobs (in petro or gas of course, helicopter to work some days..). Those I know who stay there are going just a little mad. But slowly rich. Is it worth it?

kzrdude 5y ago
Mad in which way? The people I've heard about (professionally) who went to continue their career in Dubai, I couldn't really respect anymore. It's hard to understand choosing to work in that place.
- telesilla 5y ago
  Mad in the way I imagine any colonialist ex-pat going mad, as empires threaten each other around you and you put on a white shirt and suffer through the heat. The same that happens and has happened since merchants and wealth-seekers have isolated themselves so much from reality (protected by the butlers and maids and drivers and security guards, never setting a foot in a local's house, neither a rich nor poor one) that finally they go all in and become regime apologetics.
  - cmrdporcupine 5y ago
    Reminds me of Orwell's "Shooting An Elephant"
- chanc3e 5y ago
  People I know who’ve done it: • getting a drink (alcohol) is a major pain. Either underground, or some elite venue where rules don’t apply - and the jeopardy that goes with that. Really want to spill wine on a Prince? And there are a lot of princes. • feeling of underlying state level threat if you mess up • some workers are treated as literal slaves openly • getting your money home can be troublesome. Check out Dubai airport and abandoned super cars People who tend to fare better are very career focused and can ignore the above. Also if you or your partner are into the five star life. Edit: formatting

m-s 5y ago

NRK also published a detailed timeline of the events in Norwegian (Google Translate should work just fine): https://www.nrk.no/sport/sendte-denne-sms-en-_-sa-startet-nrk-journalistenes-qatar-mareritt-1.15743490 https://www.nrk.no/sport/sendte-denne-sms-en-_-sa-startet-nr...

outside1234 5y ago

Selection process driven by suitcases of money ... ... what could go wrong?

Geekette 5y ago

The Guardian's report gives more detail: Two Norwegian journalists investigating conditions for migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup ... Hours earlier, during a live broadcast for the Sportsrevyen news show on conditions for labourers working on World Cup venues, Ekeland had told viewers there were “stark contrasts”, with some workers “doing awfully”. ... Ekeland and Ghorbani had been in Qatar since 14 November and were due to meet Abdullah Ibhais, the former communications director for the 2022 World Cup organisers, who has since publicly criticised the Qatari regime. However, Ibhais, who is appealing against a five-year prison sentence for corruption, was arrested hours before the planned interview. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/norwegian-journalists-reporting-labourers-qatar-world-cup-arrested https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/norwegian-jour...