By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Visa has expressed its “grave concern” over the plight of migrant workers in Qatar in the strongest reaction to date by any of FIFA’s commercial partners over an issue that continues to plague organisers of the 2022 World Cup.
In a significant move just days after a consortium of pressure groups urged FIFA’s sponsors to use their clout to bring about change in the Gulf state, a sharp Visa statement said the company, a FIFA partner since 2007, had told world football’s governing body exactly how it feels about the lack of human rights in Qatar.
“We continue to be troubled by the reports coming out of Qatar related to the World Cup and migrant worker conditions,” said the statement carried by Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
“We have expressed our grave concern to FIFA and urge them to take all necessary actions to work with the appropriate authorities and organizations to remedy this situation. We expect FIFA to continue taking these matters seriously and to work toward further progress.”
Human rights groups have persistently highlighted the scores of migrants who have lost their lives whilst working on construction sites in Qatar – as well as the squalor in which foreign labourers are often housed.
The Qatari authorities insist progress is being made to overhaul the current antiquated employment system while 2022 organisers have been at pains to make the point that there has not been a single death among those working on stadium projects.
But the Visa statement is a sign that corporate sponsors are edgy about Qatar receiving constant negative publicity and that they are prepared to up the ante in terms of FIFA’s concern at seeing words translated into direct action.
The Visa comments are significantly stronger than a statement issued earlier by Coca-Cola, the longest-serving World Cup sponsor which said: “The Coca-Cola Company does not condone human rights abuses anywhere in the world. We know FIFA is working with Qatari authorities to address specific labor and human rights issues.”
Both statements came as Amnesty International’s latest report reported that Qatar has failed to deliver on the year-old promise of implementing reforms, while earlier this week the BBC complained that one of its reporting crews had been detained and arrested for trying to film conditions under which migrant workers live. The Qatar government said the reporting team were trespassing on private property but the broadcaster vehemently denied the claim.
“We’ve had a year, and not much has changed. For us that’s a really important thing,” Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty’s Gulf migrant rights researcher, told the Associated Press. “The situation has probably gotten worse because you have more workers now…There’s a matter of urgency.”
Qatar 2022’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy was quick to respond to Amnesty’s latest findings, issuing a lengthy though measured statement in support of the work being done to try and improve conditions.
The full statement read as follows:
“As has been previously acknowledged by Amnesty International, the challenge of addressing workers’ welfare in Qatar is extremely complex. Further progress and sustainable, lasting change requires continued cooperation among stakeholders from across government, the private sector, sending countries and civil society organizations, like Amnesty International. The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) welcomes the contribution of the Amnesty International report and is pleased to see that it acknowledges the SC Workers’ Welfare Standards as well as the SC’s commitment to transparency and continued cooperation with Amnesty International in regard to the SC’s implementation and enforcement of the standards.
‘With regards to the issue raised in the report of Nepali workers facing difficulty obtaining permission from their employers to return home following the 25 April earthquake, we would like to highlight the SC and the contractors helping build the stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup quickly came to the aid of workers affected by the devastating earthquakes. Funds were raised by SC staff to help the 500 Nepalese workers spread across our different projects and every request by Nepali workers on SC projects to return home in the aftermath of the earthquakes has been approved, with more than 60 workers having their airfare covered by the relevant contractor.
‘The SC believes that the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the subsequent international spotlight on Qatar, serves as a catalyst for continued social progress. The SC will continue to move forward with internal and external stakeholders on our efforts to deliver a FIFA World Cup that preserves the rights and dignity of all individuals who will work to make the tournament a success.”
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