April 21 – FIFA should have acted quicker in raising the issue of Qatar’s treatment of migrant labourers working on 2022 World Cup sites, according to its head of corporate social responsibility.
FIFA did not express concerns with the organising committee until last May, five years after the Gulf state had been awarded the tournament says Federico Addiechi.
“When it comes to human rights policy… we started, in connection with Qatar and its bidding process for 2022, late, yes,” Addiechi told reporters and trade union members at a human rights conference in Doha.
“As soon as we acknowledged… that an organisation like FIFA should be involved in addressing possible violations of human rights in stadiums, we did (contact Qatar),” he said.
Qatari officials have insisted they are doing their best to improve standards and Addiechi said FIFA would not use the threat of removing hosting rights in order for that to happen.
“We would like to see the efforts that are being made to implement welfare standards for migrant workers, that this trickle down to the lowest part of the supply chain,” he said.
“It is not a matter of excluding anyone, it is about identifying risks and having a plan to address them. When it comes to human rights we are stepping up the fight and realising we have an additional responsibility.”
The comments came just as FIFA’s newly-elected president Gianni Infantino began a visit to Qatar as part of a trip to the next two World Cup hosts.
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