Fewer than ten days prior to the commencement of the World Cup in Qatar, Amnesty International has urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to commit to a compensation plan for the migrant laborers who built the tournament’s radiant stadiums.
Amnesty, alongside 24 additional organizations, including Human Rights Watch, reached out to Infantino in May imploring him to establish a program to tackle “mistreatment” that workers have faced.
As per the groups, numerous migrant laborers have encountered widespread labor violations and exploitation, most of whom hail from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
Workers have reported excessive hours without breaks, forced labor-like conditions, and lost as well as unpaid salaries.
Adidas, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s, among other sponsors of the World Cup, have supported the initial appeal, and the Australian national team has released a video claiming that some laborers have suffered as a result of hosting football’s leading tournament in Qatar.
In an editorial published in international outlets on Friday, Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, remarked: “Amid this rising chorus, the most vital voice of all has remained strikingly silent: Gianni Infantino.”
“In spite of private and public assurances from FIFA that they are ‘evaluating the proposal’, Infantino, with a few platitudes aside, has continually evaded the issue. To date, he has offered no response to our collective letter.”
How FIFA President responded to the demand for compensation
In a correspondence earlier this month, Infantino angered human rights groups by urging the 32 nations participating in Qatar to “concentrate on the football.”
Moreover, he insisted that the teams refrain from “dispensing moral lessons.”
While labeling the letter “a blatant effort to evade FIFA’s accountability for these abuses and responsibilities toward these workers,” Callamard noted that Infantino had “overseen a significant shift in the governing body’s stance on human rights.”
“Embedded in (FIFA’s) own policies is a vow to rectify human rights violations it has contributed to,” she stated in the op-ed.
“Considering the well-documented history of labor rights violations in Qatar, FIFA was aware — or should have been aware — of the evident risks to workers when it awarded Qatar the tournament.”
What Qatar is saying regarding compensating migrant workers
A minister in Qatar mentioned to AFP this month that calls for a compensation fund for migrant workers who suffered injuries or fatalities on World Cup projects were a “publicity stunt” and that the nation has dismissed the concept.
Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, Qatar’s labor minister, asserted that the Gulf nation has already distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages and accused critics of “racism.”
A compensation package would be challenging to formulate and execute, according to Amnesty, which claimed this was a “common refrain” from FIFA and the Qatari authorities.
“Yes, the number of individuals and the range of violations involved render this a complicated task: but this must not serve as an excuse for inaction or further procrastination,” Secretary General Callamard asserted.
“At this point, all we are advocating for is a definitive commitment from FIFA that mistreated workers will receive compensation and that initiatives to avert further abuses are funded,” she added.
“This should comprise a center where workers can learn about their rights and acquire legal aid and advice. All of this can be enacted with the stroke of Infantino’s pen.”
Alasdair Bell, FIFA’s Deputy Secretary General, informed the Council of Europe in October that “it was essential to ensure that anyone who suffered harm as a result of working in the World Cup… is somehow compensated” and remarked it was “something that we’re keen on advancing.”
