remediation program. As well as providing compensation for all labor
abuses related to hosting the tournament in Qatar, they should ensure that
abuses are not repeated, both in Qatar and in future tournaments.
To remedy the litany of abuses committed since 2010, when FIFA awarded
hosting rights to Qatar without
requiring any improvement in labor
protections, the organizations called on FIFA to at least match the $440m it
hands out in prize money at the World Cup.
“Given the history of human rights abuses in the country, FIFA knew—or
should have known—the obvious risks to workers when it awarded the
tournament to Qatar. Despite this, there was not a single mention of workers
or human rights in its evaluation of the Qatari bid and no conditions were
put in place on labor protections. FIFA has since done far too little to prevent
or mitigate those risks,” a statement issued by Amnesty International quotes
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard as saying.
“By turning a blind eye to foreseeable human rights abuses and failing to
stop them, FIFA indisputably contributed to the widespread abuse of migrant
workers involved in World Cup-related projects in Qatar, far beyond the
stadiums and official hotels,” he said.
The sum of $440 million is likely to be the minimum necessary to cover an
array of compensation costs and to support initiatives to protect workers’
rights in the future, Amnesty International has estimated. However, the total
sum for reimbursing unpaid wages, the extortionate recruitment fees paid
by hundreds of thousands of workers, and compensation for injuries and
deaths could end up being higher, and should be evaluated as part of a
participatory process with unions, civil society organizations, the
International Labor Organization and others.