TELL FIFA TO BLOW THE WHISTLE ON LABOUR ABUSE IN QATAR

Millions of men and women from Asia and Africa have come to Qatar in search of a better future. They’ve often paid extortionate fees to recruitment agents to secure a job abroad, before travelling miles from home to provide for their loved ones.

In Qatar, these migrant workers – who make up 95% of the country’s work force – are building the World Cup stadiums, the roads, the metro. When the tournament kicks off, they’ll be taking care of players and fans in hotels, serving them in restaurants, transporting them around and providing security for venues: everyone who visits Qatar will be looked after by migrant workers along the way.

But today, while FIFA is set to generate huge profits from the World Cup, migrant workers are still suffering to make it possible. Qatar’s recent reforms are not being adequately implemented or enforced, meaning many companies are still not paying their workers properly or treating them fairly. Employers still have undue control over their workers’ lives and can make them work excessive hours or block them from changing jobs. When migrant workers are exploited, it’s very difficult for them to get justice or compensation, and they’re banned from joining trade unions so can’t collectively fight for better working conditions.

BLOW THE WHISTLE ON LABOUR ABUSE IN QATAR

Dear Gianni Infantino

I am writing to you as a football supporter who cares greatly about the impact of our beautiful game on society and human rights. Despite some progress achieved on human rights in the lead up the 2022 World Cup, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing abuse of migrant workers in Qatar.

With less than two years to kick-off, Qatar’s labour reforms remain poorly implemented and enforced. This means the very people who are making the World Cup possible for us to enjoy are still being exploited, while FIFA is not doing enough about it.

FIFA has a clear responsibility to act when workers on World Cup sites are at risk of exploitation. When FIFA decided to host the World Cup in Qatar it knew – or should have known – that there are inherent risks in holding the tournament there, and that migrant workers working in all business sectors related to the success of the World Cup, whether linked to the official sites directly or not, would suffer to make it possible. Football fans will travel to Qatar for the World Cup and will stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, be driven around in taxis and engage with service industries that employ migrant workers and that are vital for the success of the tournament. FIFA must use its influence to urge Qatar to enforce its labour reforms so that no more workers suffer for the game we all love.

I am therefore calling on you, as the President of FIFA, to ensure FIFA:

  • Conducts adequate human rights due diligence so that it can properly investigate whether labour abuse is taking place on World Cup-related sites, act quickly to stop it and remediate any harm caused.

  • Takes action to ensure human rights abuses on World Cup sites, or linked to the tournament, are remedied, including in FIFA’s supply chain, service or business relationships.

  • Uses its influence, publicly and privately, to urge Qatar to fully implement and enforce its labour reforms. This should include Qatar taking further measures to protect all workers, including those employed in service industries essential to the delivery of the tournament, from labour abuse.

  • Publicly commits to include human rights criteria and a human rights due diligence process in all future FIFA tournament awarding decisions.

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FIFA has a clear responsibility to act when workers on World Cup projects are at risk of labour abuse, and to use its influence to urge Qatar to properly protect all migrant workers. But the reality is that workers all across Qatar have continued to face exploitation, including  on World Cup projects.

When FIFA decided to hold the World Cup in Qatar it knew – or should have known – that there are inherent risks in hosting the tournament there, due to the country’s heavy reliance on migrant workers and the serious exploitation they face. While progress has been made on workers’ rights, the ongoing abuses show that Qatar and FIFA have much more to do if the World Cup is going to leave a positive legacy.

That’s why we’re urging FIFA to blow the whistle on labour abuse. It must take urgent measures to ensure all workers connected to the World Cup can enjoy their rights, and publicly call on Qatar to urgently implement its own reforms, so that those contributing so much to the tournament can fulfil their own dreams of a decent life for them and their families.

Together, we can make Qatar 2022 a game changer for migrant workers.

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