PARIS, FRANCE — On February 21, 2021, the British newspaper The Guardian published an investigation estimating that more than 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar since the country was awarded the World Cup. Since then, this figure has circulated at least 400,000 times on Twitter alone.
While the excitement over the French national team’s journey to victory doesn’t let us forget what happened off the pitch and the thousands unaccounted for, the association Red Card for Qatar and web design and communications agency FCinq launched “Jersey of Memory,” an activation which took place on social media and across France that paid homage to those lost.
The idea was simple: While fans around the world were wearing their favorite player’s number, black jerseys were created with the names of those that went missing.
Artists, athletes, journalists, public figures, football influencers, and many others were given the jerseys to post about across their social networks.
Beyond the internet, the jerseys were also worn at several events: a football match with the LGBTQ+ team Les Degommeuses, Climate Academy, and an event at eco-café and pub la Cité Fertile.
In parallel, the association created a website devoted to the cause. On the site, internet users can share images of the jerseys and personalize pre-written messages on their own social networks. This site also lists all the counter-events organized by Red Card for Qatar through the end of the World Cup.
CREDITS:
Agence FCINQ (Australie-Gad group)
ECD: Philippe Boucheron
CDs: Barbara Paloc, Stéphane Villareal
Creatives: Tom Camus, Guillaume Paulus
Artistic Director: Quentin Sautour
Technical Directors: Sébastien Ayxandri, Gwendoline Gendron
TV Production: Thomas Laurent
Production Assistant: Sonia Primocapo
