Aoife O’Reilly questions why it is the corruption scandal and not the human rights abuses that have led to a re-think about Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup.

On December 2nd 2010, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced that Russia and Qatar would host the two World Cups succeeding the 2014 games currently taking place in Brazil. In recent weeks the international spotlight has been on Qatar due to allegations of corruption in the bidding process and the ultimate awarding of the games to the Arab country.

Corruption scandal

When Qatar was announced as the winner of the 2022 bidding process, many eyebrows were raised. Football experts lamented the choice given Qatar’s poor footballing legacy and its summer climate which would create uncomfortable conditions for players. Rumours that FIFA had essentially awarded the games to the highest bidder circulated, spurred on by the suspension of two executive committee members for accepting bribes.

Leaked documents recently published by the UK’s Sunday Times allegedly containing proof of further bribery have once again put FIFA under pressure to fully investigate the claims, with German World Cup winner Franz Beckenbaur among the FIFA officials in hot water for failing to cooperate with inquiries.

While controversy surrounding the corruption accusations has reached fever pitch, Human Rights advocates have been left wondering why it is the bribery scandal, and not the countless reports of human rights abuses suffered by migrant labourers, that have led to serious calls for a re-think on whether the tournament should be held in Qatar.

Human rights abuses

The magnitude of an event like the FIFA World Cup requires most host nations to carry out extensive construction, both in terms of stadia and infrastructure. Qatar has opened its doors to an influx of migrant labours to meet the demands associated with welcoming the millions of football fans anticipated in 2022. The treatment of these workers has led to several damning reports by Amnesty International.

“These working conditions and the astonishing number of deaths of vulnerable workers go beyond forced labour to the slavery of old where human beings were treated as objects”

Stories of forced labour and appalling working conditions are prevalent, with Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, likening the situation to modern day slavery, saying, “these working conditions and the astonishing number of deaths of vulnerable workers go beyond forced labour to the slavery of old where human beings were treated as objects.”  Given the twelve-hour working days in stifling heat, with little or no health and safety standard adherence, it is unsurprising that the International Trade Union Conference has estimated that 4,000 labourers will be killed before the tournament kicks off, with several reports of labourers not being supplied with construction helmets also emerging.

An Indian worker told Amnesty International, “There are many workers who do not know what their rights are. There are many workers who keep working like donkeys, without asking a question. They don’t understand what is legally our entitlements, what our rights are. The company has been causing a lot of trouble. The company doesn’t give them even the minimum facilities and treats them as sub-human beings. Sometimes they are not given drinking water and not given transport. If a worker falls ill and stays in his room for a day, they cut the salary for two days. If he remains absent for two or three days, then they cut salary for 10 days. If the workers work over time, they don’t pay for over time.”

A Nepalese construction worker reported, “As a painter, I have to climb quite high. People do fall and get hurt. If they get hurt they [the company] don’t treat them, they get sent back [to their home countries].”

According to a 2013 Amnesty International report, the lucrative recruitment promises made to an estimated 1.4 million workers from a host of countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka simply never materialise.

“As a painter, I have to climb quite high. People do fall and get hurt. If they get hurt they [the company] don’t treat them, they get sent back [to their home countries]”

Salaries are considerably less than expected and often withheld. A group of five Nepalese workers told Amnesty International in March 2013 that they had never been paid a proper salary by their company, which recruited them in July 2012 with promises of salaries of between 900 and 1,200 riyals (between US$247 and US$320) per month. They worked from July until December 2012 and say they only received small amounts of cash – around 200 riyals (US$55) – irregularly to buy food during this time.

The practice of employers failing to ‘document’ workers, leaving them susceptible to detention by the authorities, are widespread. Passport confiscation has been reported as a common occurrence, making it nearly impossible for migrants to return home. Workers are often completely reliant on their employers, causing understandable psychological trauma given the powerlessness of their situation.

Living conditions are also reported by Amnesty International to be deplorable. Many workers simply do not have enough food to sustain themselves, and accommodation is particularly poor, frequently without electricity or sanitation. Workers who had planned to send money back to families have told of their devastation at having nothing left once they have paid rent and satisfied moneylenders who engage in harassment techniques that amount to extortion.

FIFA response

FIFA were forced to confront the human rights abuse issue after a Guardian investigation into the death of dozens of Nepalese workers in September 2013 revealed the extent of the problem. While FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, admitted that FIFA could not turn a blind eye and committed to meeting Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, he was adamant that responsibility lay with Qatar and the companies, many of them European, who were employing these individuals. After his meeting with Qatari officials Blatter pronounced himself satisfied with the progress, though months later no visible reform has occurred.

Profit before people?

The fact that it is a corruption disgrace that is making the media headlines, and not the human exploitation scandal, indicates just how divorced from reality the World Cup has become. With riots in Brazil preceding the opening of the tournament as citizens protested at the public expenditure in the face of real poverty, and serious question marks over whether South Africa’s 2010 games has brought about any long term benefits for the lower income classes, there is some suggestion that the event acts as a poisoned chalice for ambitious governments who are left counting the costs of their extravagance. However in the case of oil-rich Qatar, it is the migrant labourers who are undoubtedly paying the price.

An apolitical game?

Political neutrality has long been a virtue of sporting events. Stories of North Koreans and South Koreans happily supporting each other when both qualified for the 2010 World Cup are just one example of how sport can act as a temporary release to serious tensions. While the sporting world did unite to oppose South African apartheid effectively, in general the approach has been to avoid comment on internal politics.

However surely it is time that powerful sporting bodies took the lead in highlighting all serious human rights abuses, which simply cannot be classified as mere political issues any more. Backed by powerful sponsors and with a global platform that few human rights organisations enjoy, the time has come for sporting chiefs to take advantage of their universal appeal to promote universal rights.

While FIFA corruption is a cause for worry, the migrant rights crisis is undoubtedly a far more alarming concern, and one that could be improved if FIFA was willing to atone for its inaction so far and oblige Qatari officials to remedy the plight of migrant labourers.

Author: Aoife O’Reilly

Aoife has just completed a degree in Law and Political Science in Trinity College Dublin. She has an interest in social justice and public policy and has taken part in Suas’s Acceleread Accelewrite Literacy Programme. She was also heavily involved with the Voluntary Tuition Programme, an education initiative catering for Dublin school children, during her time in Trinity College Dublin.

Photo credit: After a day’s work, Migrant workers in Qatar, Lubaib, Creative Commons’ Licence

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