Rights group, Amnesty International, on Thursday, May 19, 2022, urged football’s governing body, FIFA, to pay compensation equaling the total 2022 World Cup prize money for migrant workers “abused” in the host nation, Qatar.
The call, backed by other Rights organisations and fan groups, followed earlier allegations that FIFA is slow to safeguard against the exploitation of workers in the Gulf state to build infrastructure in the years leading to the tournament scheduled to begin on November 21, 2022.
Amnesty in its statement, accompanied by a report, noted that “FIFA should earmark at least $440 million to provide remedy for the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have suffered human rights abuses in Qatar during preparations for the 2022 World Cup”.
The London-based group (Amnesty International) urged FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, “to work with Qatar to establish a comprehensive remediation programme”. The rights group alleged that a “litany of abuses” took place since 2010, which marked the year FIFA awarded the 2022 tournament to Qatar “without requiring any improvement in labour protections”.
Amnesty Justifying its Stance
Amnesty’s Secretary-General, Agnes Callamard, said “Given the history of human rights abuses in the country, FIFA knew, or should have known, the obvious risks to workers when it awarded the tournament to Qatar”. Amnesty also added that some abuses persisted and described $440 million as the “minimum necessary” to cover compensation claims and ensure corrective initiatives are expanded for the future.
The sum is roughly the total prize money for this year’s World Cup. Amnesty’s call is also backed by an open letter to Infantino, signed by nine other organisations, including Migrant Rights and Football Supporters Europe.
FIFA Assessing the Report
When asked for comment on the issue, FIFA said it is “assessing the programme proposed by Amnesty” for Qatar, highlighting that it “involves a wide range of non-FIFA World Cup-specific public infrastructure built since 2010”.
On the other hand, Qatar’s World Cup organisers, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said they “worked tirelessly” with international groups for the rights of workers on stadiums and other tournament projects. Much of the criticism has been directed at construction outside the official tournament where hundreds of workers are reported to have died in the past decade.
According to the Spokesperson for the organisers, “Significant improvements have been made across accommodation standards, health and safety regulations, grievance mechanisms, healthcare provision, and reimbursements of illegal recruitment fees to workers”.
“This tournament is, and will continue to be a powerful catalyst for delivering a sustainable human and social legacy ahead of, during, and beyond the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.”
Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy Spokesperson
Claims by Amnesty International
Amnesty International’s claims for migrant workers range from unpaid salaries, “illegal” and “extortionate” recruitment fees averaging $1,300 to secure jobs, and compensation for injuries and deaths.
However, Amnesty welcomed initiatives by FIFA and Qatar, including improvements made on World Cup construction sites and labour legislation reforms introduced in 2014. Qatar, in 2017 introduced a minimum wage, reduced the hours that can be worked in extreme heat, and ended part of a system which forced migrant workers to seek employers’ permission to change jobs or even leave the country.
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