The sentence sounds screwed up, as if it had been forced from Alasdair Bell. But now it is in the minutes of the meeting: Fifa wants compensation for all workers injured on the World Cup construction sites in Qatar to be addressed somehow. So said the Deputy Secretary General of FIFA in Strasbourg.
Human rights violations on construction sites in Qatar
That doesn’t sound enthusiastic, and it doesn’t say anything about whether FIFA will get involved in this matter itself. But it was the first time that the world football association supported the demand made by many NGOs to compensate those workers who built the World Cup infrastructure in the desert state under appalling conditions and were injured or even died in the process.
Associations call for the establishment of a compensation fund
Previously, numerous national football associations had joined this demand, including the Norwegian. Its president, Lise Klaveness, said in Strasbourg that empty promises were no longer enough: Fifa had to use all its influence to bring about real changes. And that included setting up a compensation fund and setting up a contact point in Qatar where workers who are still largely without rights can assert their claims.
Amnesty calls for $440 million to be paid out
So far, the desert emirate says it has paid $164 million in compensation to 36,000 guest workers from 17 countries. Amnesty International is demanding that FIFA pay out $440 million. Exactly as much as it distributes in entry fees to the 32 participating national teams. In Strasbourg, however, Deputy Secretary General Bell left open whether, and if so, how much, FIFA itself wants to loosen up.