Qatar: Amnesty International has urged FIFA president Gianni Infantino to set up a compensation fund of at least $440 million for migrant workers who have suffered "human rights abuses" during preparations for the 2022 Football World Cup to be held in Qatar. Football's governing body is in a tricky situation as the suggested compensation amount equals the prize money fund.
The letter from Amnesty states: "Until all workers are compensated, the tournament cannot be truly celebrated."
The scope of work included seven state-of-the-art Qatar-themed stadiums, new airport, as well as a metro and numerous roads. It is estimated that over 30,000 migrant labours were hired to complete the project.
Amnesty International is well supported by human rights organisations and fans' group from all over the world and they are raising their voice not only to support dead or injured workers, but who are still unpaid by employers or been forced to pay recruitment fees in order to secure work.
Amnesty International's UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said they expected England men's team, manager Gareth Southgate and the Football Association to put pressure on FIFA to act. He said, "Thousands of migrant workers have
been exploited and many have tragically died to make this World Cup
possible, so we hope the FA and Gareth Southgate and the players will
back this innovative scheme to secure much-needed compensation for
long-suffering workers' families."
"Nothing can bring dead workers back to life or restore the dignity of those who were trapped in conditions amounting to modern-day slavery during Qatar's World Cup building boom, but a FIFA workers' fund would still be an important move."
FIFA responded to Amnesty’s proposal, said it was already looking at ways to compensate the workers associated with the Qatar World Cup organising committee.
FIFA released a statement, "Through the recruitment fee reimbursement scheme, for example, both FIFA World Cup and non-FIFA World Cup workers have received payments of a total $22.6m (£18m) as of December 2021, with an additional $5.7m (£4.5m) committed by contractors."
A spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said, "Significant improvements have been made across accommodation standards, health and safety regulations, grievance mechanisms, healthcare provision, and reimbursements of illegal recruitment fees to workers."
Source: BBC
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