Several human rights organizations have renewed their criticism of FIFA and the preparations for the 2022 World Cup: the world association is not fulfilling its responsibility when it comes to compensating guest workers in Qatar.
In a joint statement, the human rights organizations Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, FairSquare and Equidem called on FIFA to use the “legacy fund” set up at the start of the World Cup to compensate workers. FIFA is still not fulfilling its responsibility to pay compensation.
“Many thousands of migrant workers have paid illegal fees, had their wages stolen or even lost their lives to make the world’s most lucrative sporting event possible.”said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s director of economic and social justice. “It would be outrageous if FIFA’s fund didn’t recognize the contribution of these people and compensate them for their losses.”
“Legacy Fund” does not include indemnities
At the beginning of the World Cup, FIFA announced the “Legacy Fund”, which, for example, is intended to provide global support for the education of children, especially in developing countries. The size of the fund has not yet been determined, and compensation for workers has not been announced in this context.
Numerous cases of the exploitation of guest workers in the course of preparing the World Cup infrastructure have been documented. These include illegal brokerage fees, use of the at least officially abolished kafala system, unpaid wages, injury and death.
Human Rights Watch calls Infantino’s statements ‘misleading’
FIFA anticipates record revenue of around $7.5 billion from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The human rights organizations had asked FIFA to provide 440 million US dollars for compensation. The 440 million US dollars correspond to the total prize money collected by the 32 participating teams, the German Football Association, for example, receives 9 million US dollars for the preliminary round, the world champion 42 million.
At a press conference the day before the opening of the World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that 350 million had already been paid and that there were mechanisms in place for workers and their families to claim compensation. “This is misleading”criticized Human Rights Watch (HRW). “Workers face major obstacles in accessing compensation”, according to HRW. Some would wait years for their wages. There are no details on how the $350 million will be used. Tirana Hassan, deputy executive director of Human Rights Watch, spoke of one with regard to FIFA “dark tactics to evade their human rights responsibilities”.
Damage payment? Qatar speaks of “advertising stunt”
FIFA Deputy Secretary General Alasdair Bell spoke at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in October “Interest” spoke to FIFA about the establishment of such a fund: “It’s definitely something we want to push forward,” said Bell, but qualified. “It’s not the easiest thing to do.” The World Cup host issued a rejection to a compensation fund. Qatari Labor Minister Ali bin Samich Al Marri told the AFP news agency that human rights organizations were demanding a compensation fund “Advertising stunt.”
In Qatar, there is still a great lack of transparency in the way the Qatari government deals with death tolls. According to statistics from Qatar, more than 15,000 people of non-Qatar nationality have died since the 2010 World Cup was awarded. How many of the deaths are related to World Cup projects is not published. According to FIFA, only three workers have died as a result of accidents at work during the construction of the stadium.
The Secretary General of the Organizing Committee, Hassan al-Thawadi, spoke at the start of the World Cup of 400 to 500 people who died in World Cup projects. Later, the organizing committee announced that this number includes all accidents at work from 2014 to 2020 and does not only refer to World Cup projects.