By Ivan Korrs – musictimes.com — Starting with the labor issues and LGBTQ discrimination that many on social media have shed light on, it seems like the issues and the problems for the highly-anticipated sporting event will never cease. Earlier this month, different rumors of musicians like Dua Lipa, and Shakira, among many others, emerged – linking their involvement in the controversial event. They have denied involvement and called out the FIFA organization on proceeding with Qatar. However, it was until last week that Nicki Minaj confirmed that she would be doing a song with Colombian star Maluma and Lebanese songstress Myriam Fares.

The song “Tukoh Takah,” wowed everyone with its upbeat and highly-infectious energy. It is now the football anthem for the FIFA World Cup 2022. While Maluma and Minaj are already known to the American audience, Myriam Fares is definitely a new sound to many. After some slight digging by people on the internet, they came across an old video of Myriam Fares, who seemed to have done an act that many finds problematic. In a Rolling Stone report, it was revealed that Myriam Fares blackfaced on one of her earlier music videos, “Goumi” (or “Stand Up”). In 2018, Fares actually faced backlash after she wore makeup that significantly darkened her face and body to mimic a black person. Since the video’s release on YouTube, Fares has since faced a mountain of backlash over it, criticizing her for engaging in an act that insults a degrades a culture.

In a Mille World post, a critic staunchly criticized Fares. “At no point should it be accepted for a non-black Arab to paint their skin black or appropriate Black culture,” the post read. “Certainly not whilst racism runs rampant in most countries, and certainly not whilst the Arabic word for ‘slave’ is still used interchangeably with ‘black.'” Actually, it wasn’t the last time that Fares was accused of cultural appropriation. Earlier this year, she invited her Twitter followers to “prepare your own ‘Imazighen’ look,” a tribal tattoo usually worn on North African tribes.

The controversy around Fares is one of the many issues surrounding the FIFA World Cup. Ever since Qatar was awarded as the host of the World Cup, it has been heavily reported that around 6,500 migrant workers building sports infrastructures have died as a result of poor labor conditions.