Claims of abuse of workforce blight Qatar organisation

QATAR, host of the 2022 football World Cup, is facing new scrutiny over reported abuse of migrant building labour.

Campaigners have called on Qatar to change its policy towards migrant labourers, such as those seen here in Doha in 2006, preparing for the 2022 World Cup labelling it "modern day slavery"

QATAR, chosen to host the 2022 football World Cup, is facing international scrutiny over reported abuse of migrant labour working on construction projects related to the tournament.

While world football’s governing body FIFA maintained last night that only the timing of the 2022 World Cup is in doubt after Qatar, its controversial choice to host the finals is set to be besieged with a new set of problems.

In a statement, FIFA, said it was "very concerned" by reports that at least 44 Nepalese workers died in Qatar between June 4 and August 8 amid evidence of forced labour in the construction of Lusail City, a purpose-built city that is due to host the 2022 World Cup final.

The FIFA statement added that its executive committee will discuss the matter in Zurich next week, in addition to a proposal to move the tournament to a winter date because of health concerns arising from the oppressive summer heat in Qatar.

FIFA is expected to agree to a period of consultation before making any firm commitments, in part because of the concerns raised by the English Premier League and other European leagues and by broadcast companies, some of whom are concerned by the idea of a winter World Cup.

Officials in Zurich maintain, however, that neither the latest revelations nor any of the previous controversies will affect Qatar's hopes of hosting the tournament.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) claimed yesterday that, with at least half a million labourers due to arrive in Qatar from countries such as Nepal, India and Sri Lanka to work on construction projects required in advance of the World Cup finals, the tournament could cost another 4,000 lives unless action is taken to improve working conditions.

An investigation in The Guardian newspaper revealed that 44 Nepalese workers died in Qatar between June 4 and August 8 this year, approximately half of them because of heart failure or workplace accidents.

While the heat was cited as one factor, harsh and dangerous working conditions and squalid, cramped living quarters were also mentioned by the ITUC, leading to warnings that the death toll could rise to 600 a year unless the Qatari Government makes reforms.

The revelations bring further indignity on Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup, which was aimed at earning greater global prestige for the oil-rich nation.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter admitted earlier this month that "direct political influence" was a factor in Qatar's success in winning the vote ahead of Australia, the United States and others, while FIFA has set up an ethics commission to assess whether the Gulf nation played by the rules in the lead-up to the December 2010 ballot.

The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, which has strenuously denied any wrongdoing in its bid campaign, said yesterday that it was "appalled" by the ITUC's findings. It said that construction work had yet to begin on projects directly related to the hosting of the World Cup, but added that it was "deeply concerned with the allegations that have been made against certain contractors/sub-contractors working on Lusail City's construction site and considers this issue to be of the utmost seriousness".

In a further statement, the committee said: "The health, safety, wellbeing and dignity of every worker that contributes to staging the 2022 FIFA World Cup is of the utmost importance to our committee and we are committed to ensuring that the event serves as a catalyst toward creating sustainable improvements to the lives of all workers in Qatar."

Aidan McQuade, the director of Anti-Slavery International, said that the findings represented "clear proof of the use of systematic forced labour in Qatar".

"These working conditions and the astonishing number of deaths of vulnerable workers go beyond forced labour to the slavery of old where human beings were treated as objects. There is no longer a risk that the World Cup might be built on forced labour. It is already happening," McQuade said.

The Times