By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – FIFA has backed the case of former Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou, the latest foreign footballer to claim he did not receive his salary whilst playing in Qatar and was not allowed to leave the country under its notorious kefala employment system.
On the day when the human rights record of the 2022 World Cup hosts came under the spotlight at the European Parliament in Brussels, it was announced that Ouaddou had won his appeal to FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) which has ruled in his favour and ordered Qatar SC to pay him what he is owed.
“I am very satisfied with the decision of the DRC,” said the 35-year-old former Fulham, Nancy, Stade Rennes, Valenciennes and Olympiakos Piraeus player in a statement to the world players’ union FIFPro. ” For me, it is not about the money. It is a matter of principle. I was fighting for my rights.”
Ouaddou, who won 57 caps for Morocco, left Qatar in November 2012 but it has taken until now for him to win his case. He claimed that when he first filed his appeal to FIFA’s DRC his exit visa was withheld. He says he was told it would only be issued if and when he dropped his case but obtained it when he threatened to report the case to human rights groups.
The latest case mirrored that of French/Algerian footballer Zahir Belounis whose plight after being stranded in Qatar for 17 months made worldwide headlines. He was finally allowed to leave after a fierce campaign by human rights organisations and the media.
“The trouble experienced by Abdeslam Ouaddou is not an isolated incident in Qatar,” said FIFpro. “FIFpro is well aware of other players who find themselves, or have been in, the same unacceptable situation.”
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