Ln Sunday, November 20, 2022, FIFA President Gianni Infantino will take his place in his chair to watch the opening match of the 2022 World Cup, which will pit hosts Qatar against Ecuador at the stadium. state-of-the-art Al-Bayt, in Doha. Of the seven venues built specifically for the tournament, this is the crown jewel of a massive development project that has transformed the capital of Qatar and its surroundings since 2010, when FIFA awarded the country the organization of the World Cup.
At an estimated cost of 200 billion euros, infrastructure including training centres, hotels and highways has been built in anticipation of the arrival of 1.5 million supporters for what is undoubtedly the biggest event athlete in the world.
For the millions of migrant workers who have made this project a reality, the price to pay was also very heavy. This is particularly the case of Nepalese Tul Bahadur Gharti who, at the age of 34, died in his sleep in November 2020 after working for more than 10 hours in temperatures rising to 39°C on a construction site. His wife, Bipana, never received any explanation of what had happened to her husband. According to the death certificate issued by the Qatari authorities, Tul Bahadur Gharti, who had no medical history, died of “natural causes”.
Working conditions amounting to forced labor
In May 2022, Amnesty International and 24 civil society organizations and trade unions wrote to Gianni Infantino asking him to set up a reparations program for victims of human rights abuses, such as Gharti and Bipana. Behind the shimmering facade that Qatar will present to the world from November 20, stories of suffering like theirs are countless.
The facts, widely documented by Amnesty International and other organisations: hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, mainly from Africa, South and South-East Asia, victims of exploitation and abuses of generalized work. These violations included exorbitant recruitment fees, working conditions amounting to forced labor, lost and unpaid wages, and long periods of work without a day off. Like the death of Tul Bahadur Gharti, thousands of migrant worker deaths remain unexplained.
Also listen Ecology, human rights, corruption: why the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is a problem
Amnesty International’s call for compensation is drawing a growing list of supporters, including football associations fromEngland, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United States, World Cup sponsors Coca-Cola, Adidas, Budweiser and McDonald’s, and, with a video went viral in october, the Australian national team. According to a global poll commissioned by Amnesty International, 84% of potential World Cup spectators are in favor of this compensation proposal.
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