WHAT SHOULD FIFA AND QATAR DO NOW?
With six months to go before the World Cup kicks off, abuses will continue unabated
unless the action plan put in place by FIFA and its partners is properly implemented.
However, it is already too late to erase the past suffering, and it is time for FIFA and Qatar
to put things right.
Qatar has a clear obligation to prevent human rights abuses and compensate abuse. But
FIFA also has important responsibilities that we must all make sure it lives up to. By
awarding the World Cup to Qatar without conditions on improving protections for workers’
rights, FIFA has contributed to human rights abuses on a significant scale, beyond just
those employed to build and service official FIFA sites. In line with international
standards, this means that FIFA must now ensure remedy for past labour abuses linked to
the 2022 World Cup. This should include workers building or servicing the stadiums,
transport infrastructure, accommodation and other projects related to the tournament.
FIFA should work with Qatar and other partners to set up a programme to provide remedy
for hundreds of thousands of workers involved in projects linked to the World Cup. To help
fund this, FIFA should reserve an amount at least equivalent to the $440 million prize
money provided to teams participating in the tournament. This can be invested in funds to
compensate workers, and initiatives to improve workers’ protections for the future. This is
easily doable given the organisation will make over $6 billion in revenues from the
tournament and has over $1.6 billion of reserves.
$200 BILLION
is how much Qatar spent on the World
Cup.
$6 BILLION