December 10, 2024 | National Review
Qatar’s Corrupt Anti-Corruption Initiative
Glamorous awards and high-profile conferences are not enough to absolve the nation of its sins.
December 10, 2024 | National Review
Qatar’s Corrupt Anti-Corruption Initiative
Glamorous awards and high-profile conferences are not enough to absolve the nation of its sins.
Excerpt
Last month, the autocratic Gulf state of Qatar handed out anti-corruption awards in partnership with the United Nations. The entire exercise was gaslighting in the extreme.
It took chutzpah for the regime in Doha to issue one of five Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani Anti-Corruption Excellence awards for the “Safeguarding Sports from Corruption,” named for the country’s autocratic leader. The safeguard award was granted jointly this year to two experts in sports law. The legal experts may well have earned their recognition. But it is now well-documented that Qatar bribed its way to hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Jonathan Schanzer is the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Natalie Ecanow is a research analyst focusing on the Middle East. FDD is a nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.