A good year after the controversial World Cup in Qatar, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has renewed its criticism of the world football association FIFA and the host country.
Among other things, there has still been no help for the families of thousands of guest workers who “died for unknown reasons” in connection with the tournament.
“FIFA’s response to addressing the terrible human rights legacy it left behind in Qatar should have been to provide redress for migrant deaths and withheld wages,” said Michael Page, HRW deputy director for the Middle East. “By not doing this, FIFA shows contempt for the very workers who made the World Cup possible.”
Before the World Cup, the Qatari authorities and FIFA made “completely inaccurate and misleading claims” that Qatar’s occupational health and safety systems and compensation mechanisms were sufficient. Research by Human Rights Watch has shown that “numerous guest workers have fallen through the cracks.”
“The World Cup was a catastrophe for football, for the players, for the fans and for the guest workers,” HRW director Minky Worden recently said: “It is a terrible stain in the history of FIFA.”
With a view to the almost certain awarding of the 2034 World Cup by the world association to Qatar’s large neighbor Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch sees “the next human rights disaster” coming. “Saudi Arabia is worse than Qatar in many respects,” said Wenzel Michalski, Germany director of Human Rights Watch, to the SID.