"Racist" cartoons pop up during FIFA World Cup

ALBAWABA - Since the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, artists worldwide have been expressing their opinion about the relished global event via art, some of which was widely scolded as "racist."

Also ReadFrench newspaper criticized over racist cartoon of Qatar national team

The latest was a cartoon published in a Dutch newspaper on the Moroccan national team, which was globally decried amid calls to boycott the paper and the artist who produced the artwork.

The cartoon in Netherland's  De Volkskrant newspaper showed two characters, waiving the Moroccan flag on a speeding motorcycle, while stealing the World Cup trophy from the hands of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Created by cartoonist Jos Collignon, the drawing was condemned as "racist and Islamophobic." The Dutch newspaper apologized and removed it, according to reports.

Another cartoon by Palestinian artist Alaa Allagta depicted the French football team as chess pieces, most of them were black, excluding two. One of the two "white" pieces had the French flag, while the second one was blank

The cartoon implicitly pointed to French footballers, many of whom are of African origin. Allagta's cartoon was admonished by many social media users online, who demanded that the artist removes it.

Weeks earlier when the World Cup began in Qatar on Nov. 20, a French newspaper shared a racist cartoon depicting Qatar's national football team holding weapons and bombs while playing football. Le Canard Enchaîné also displayed the Qatari footballers sporting long black beards in a move that was widely interpreted as stereotyping.