Fifa disregards its own committee’s recommendation for Qatar worker compensation

The Lusail Stadium served as the largest facility utilized during the 2022 World Cup. Fifa has released a report, which had been anticipated for a long time and was commissioned by the organization itself, examining the legacy of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Nevertheless, Fifa has not adopted its central recommendation. Fifa’s sub-committee, focused on human rights and social responsibility, determined that the governing body “has a responsibility” to help fund reparations for laborers who suffered harm during the planning and execution of the tournament. The report states: “There are workers who have contributed to the resounding success of the World Cup… who have not yet benefited from any, or any adequate remediation.” The committee recommends that Fifa “to dedicate the World Cup 2022 legacy fund in full or in part to further strengthen the competition’s legacy for migrant workers”. Earlier this week, Fifa introduced a ‘legacy fund’ amounting to £39.4 million. However, this fund did not allocate compensation for workers affected by the event, which led to criticism from human rights advocates. The report, commissioned in March 2023, was submitted in December of the previous year, yet Fifa delayed its public release for nearly a year. The conclusions are derived from independent research, which identified that “a number of severe human rights impacts did ultimately occur in Qatar from 2010 through 2022 for a number of workers connected to the 2022 World Cup. This included: deaths, injuries and illnesses; wages not being paid for months on end; and significant debt faced by workers and their families reimbursing the fees they paid to obtain jobs in Qatar”. The report further states that “the due diligence measures put in place by Fifa and its partners did not prevent these severe impacts from occurring…a credible argument can be made that Fifa contributed to some of the impacts”. It concludes by asserting that “Fifa and other organisations who participated in the delivery of the World Cup… have a shared responsibility… to make remedy available to workers impacted”. For several years, the event has been overshadowed by disputes regarding the human toll of constructing the necessary infrastructure for the 2022 tournament amidst the extreme summer temperatures of the Gulf state. In 2021, information emerged indicating that 6,500 migrant workers originating from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka had passed away in Qatar since the nation secured the right to host the World Cup in 2010. The Qatari government stated that not all documented fatalities were among individuals engaged in World Cup-related endeavors, suggesting that numerous deaths might have resulted from advanced age or other natural factors. During the competition itself, organizers reported that the count of migrant workers who died on projects linked to the World Cup was “between 400 and 500”. Qatar implemented labor reforms starting in 2017, which included enhanced worker protections, the establishment of a minimum wage, and the abolition of the contentious ‘kafala’ sponsorship framework. However, persistent worries have been raised regarding the actual execution of these modifications. Despite earning a record £6 billion from the World Cup, Fifa declined requests from activists, player associations, fan organizations, and certain European football federations for a £350 million compensation fund intended for the relatives of workers who were either injured or deceased, opting instead to commit to the aforementioned legacy fund. The human rights advocacy organization Amnesty commented: “It is no mystery why Fifa has sought to keep this independent report hidden for so long – it clearly concludes that the organisation has a responsibility to ensure remedy including compensation to hundreds of thousands of workers who suffered abuses connected to the 2022 World Cup. “It validates what human rights organisations, trade unions, fans, and now even Fifa’s own human rights sub-committee have been saying – it is time for Fifa to pay up.” The campaign group Fair Square stated: “Fifa has plumbed new depths this week. Its ‘legacy fund’ offers nothing for the workers who suffered building the tournament, completely ignoring the advice of its own expert human rights report.” In its reply, Fifa declared: “All reports and recommendations were considered during a comprehensive review by the Fifa administration and relevant bodies.” It added: “While all recommendations could not be met, practical and impactful elements were retained. It should be noted that the study did not specifically constitute a legal assessment of the obligation to remedy.” Fifa further stated: “The creation of the World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund was unanimously endorsed by the Fifa Council… A Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund was established in Qatar in 2018 and Fifa believes the new Legacy Fund, endorsed by recognised international agencies, is a pragmatic and transparent initiative that will encompass social programmes to help people most in need across the world.”