Plan to compensate Qatar workers rejected by FIFA as the governing body turns down its own committee’s call.
Plan to compensate Qatar workers has been officially turned down by FIFA.
FIFA has released the long-awaited report it commissioned on the 2022 World Cup legacy in Qatar. However, it has not carried on its main recommendation.
The subcommittee on human rights and social responsibility of the governing body came to the conclusion that Fifa “has a responsibility” to help pay workers injured during the planning and execution of the competition.
“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,” it says.
The committee advises Fifa to “to dedicate the World Cup 2022 legacy fund in full or in part to further strengthen the competition’s legacy for migrant workers”.
Human rights activists criticised FIFA for not providing compensation for workers affected by the tournament when it announced a £39.4 million “legacy fund” earlier this week.
Fifa has consequently been waiting over a year to reveal the report. This was submitted last December and was commissioned in March 2023.
The findings are based on independent research that found “a number of severe human rights impacts did ultimately occur in Qatar from 2010 through 2022. This 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”.
It adds “the due diligence measures put in place by Fifa and its partners did not prevent these from occurring. A credible argument can be made that Fifa contributed to some of the impacts”.
It concludes 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”.