Seven out of ten Dutch people support the proposal that the world football association FIFA uses the World Cup proceeds to compensate migrant workers who were exploited in the preparations for the tournament in Qatar. This is reported by the human rights organization Amnesty International, which had opinion polls conducted on this subject in the Netherlands and fourteen other countries worldwide.
More than two-thirds of people want the KNVB to speak out publicly about the human rights issues associated with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including compensation for migrant workers. FIFA must set up a compensation program before the start of the World Cup on November 20, 2022, they believe.
The opinion poll in the Netherlands was part of a global survey in fifteen countries, commissioned by Amnesty International. The survey shows that 73 percent of adults in the countries surveyed support the proposal that FIFA should compensate migrant workers who suffered in the preparations for the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar. This support is even greater among people who say they will watch at least one match during the World Cup (84 percent).
The poll, conducted by You Gov of 17,477 adults, also shows that two in three respondents want their national football associations to speak out publicly on the human rights issues associated with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and to support compensation for migrant workers. .
“These results send a clear message to the football management. All over the world people are united in their wish to have FIFA take steps and do something about the suffering of the migrant workers in Qatar. And in the Netherlands too, the vast majority of the people that the KNVB takes a much clearer position on this,” said Dagmar Oudshoorn of Amnesty International.
At the end of August, the Dutch national team announced that it would launch a ‘social action’ at the upcoming World Cup that is aimed at improving the position of migrant workers in Qatar. It is not yet clear exactly what that action will look like, Gijs de Jong, secretary general of the KNVB, said at a meeting in Zeist.