The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) today accused FIFA and Qatar of failing to remedy the abuses committed against workers who participated in the preparations for the 2022 World Cup, one year after the start of the tournament.
In a statement, the NGO denounced that FIFA and the Doha authorities also failed to offer a remedy to the families of thousands of workers who died “from unexplained causes” in the Arab country during the construction of the infrastructure for the event.
“FIFA’s response to addressing the terrible human rights legacy it left in Qatar should have been to provide remedy for migrant deaths and stolen wages,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at HRW.
“By not doing so, FIFA is showing disdain for the same workers who made the World Cup possible,” he added.
“Extremely inaccurate and misleading statements
The note recalls that before the tournament, Qatari authorities and FIFA “made extremely inaccurate and misleading claims that Qatari labor protection systems and compensation mechanisms were adequate to remedy these widespread abuses.”
HRW investigations have shown, however, that the Gulf country’s labor reforms, “carried out under intense global scrutiny, were extremely limited due to their late introduction, limited scope, or poor implementation,” the note said.
He also stressed that “dozens of migrant workers were left unattended,” and that “after global attention on the abuses committed in Qatar faded, abused migrant workers and the families of the deceased faced old and new forms of exploitation that HRW documented the slowdown following the 2022 World Cup and that continues today.”
According to the document, which cites the testimony of some expatriate workers, “many of these remain in Qatar without work or remuneration and with outstanding salaries and benefits that are contractually owed to them.”
“FIFA’s promises were blatant falsehoods”
“FIFA and the Qatari authorities had the opportunity to address some of these bitter legacies by providing reparation, including financial compensation (…) they could have built on and expanded on the limited successes of the Qatar Workers Support Fund by reimbursing some migrant workers,” he added.
Although it referred to “some positive cases” of migrants assisted by that fund, HRW regretted that the Qatar Workers Support Fund “has failed to compensate them,” despite promises from FIFA and the Arab country in that regard. .
“The reality of migrants fighting for wages since the World Cup ended shows that FIFA’s promises were blatant falsehoods and that many of the abuses were predictable and preventable,” he added.
HRW also warned that FIFA “appears to be repeating the serious mistakes it made during the 12 years of preparation for the 2022 World Cup,” by awarding the hosting of the tournament in 2034 to Saudi Arabia, a country that relies heavily on more of 13.4 million migrant workers, many of whom come from the same countries as Qatar’s workers.
“FIFA and the Qatari authorities continue to deflect scrutiny from their abject failure to protect workers instead of devoting a modicum of effort to compensating the same workers who generated them enormous income,” he concluded.
EFE / FútbolUy
FútbolUy – Montevideo Portal
2023-11-20 14:04:00
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