Fifa dismisses own report advice, has not paid Qatar World Cup workers’ compensation
Fifa was criticised by Amnesty International for not doing anything for families of migrant workers who died or were exploited
A Fifa subcommittee report on Qatar’s 2022 World Cup legacy said football’s world governing body has a responsibility to compensate migrant workers but the organisation has not acted on a recommendation to do that by using its legacy fund.
The report prepared by the Fifa Subcommittee on Human Rights & Social Responsibility looked into a request made at the Fifa Congress by the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), who asked what steps Fifa might take to compensate workers.
Fifa launched a $50 million legacy fund this week for social programmes but was criticised by Amnesty International for not doing anything for families of migrant workers who died or were exploited when building Qatar’s stadiums for the World Cup.
The Middle Eastern country has denied that workers were exploited.
“There are workers who have contributed to the resounding success of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 who have not yet benefited from any, or any adequate, remediation,” said the report, which was published 11 months after it was submitted.
“Whilst the main responsibility to rectify such shortcomings lies with the direct employers of these workers as well as with the Government of Qatar … Fifa too has a responsibility to take additional measures to contribute to the provision of remedy to these workers.”
