March 20 – FIFA is being urged by Amnesty International not to downplay the mistreatment of construction workers’ on Qatar’s 2022 World Cup sites when football’s world governing body hears an update on the issue at its executive committee meeting today and tomorrow.
In a statement Amnesty, whose hard-hitting report a few months ago into the welfare of migrant workers prompted widespread alarm, asked FIFA to take a firm stance rather than push the responsibility on to other bodies.
“Despite previous promises by FIFA to address the ‘unacceptable’ situation for migrant workers in Qatar, last week FIFA’s Secretary-General Jerome Valcke said: FIFA is not a United Nations. FIFA is about sport,” the statement said.
The quote is taken out of context from a video interview by Jerome Valcke with INSIDE World Football last week.
Amnesty’s James Lynch then responds to the quote by saying: “When FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, it assumed a responsibility for the human rights impact of that decision. It is involved in this issue, whether it likes it or not.”
Contrary to Lynch’s implication, FIFA has never denied its responsibilities but has always maintained that it is not the government of a country and has no powers as much – and is not seeking them. “We are football,” said Valcke in the interview, who insisted that there must be no further construction deaths in Qatar (see http://www.insideworldfootball.com/world-cup/qatar-2022/14294-interview-with-jerome-valcke-there-must-be-construction-safety-in-qatar).
The reality is that if Qatar makes changes then FIFA and the World Cup hosting will have been the catalyst for those changes.
Last month, Qatar’s 2022 organisers insisted they would crack down on any contractors who violate the welfare of those employed on World Cup infrastructure as part of a series of strict new employment standards.
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