Bianca Patroni
Peruvian’s enthusiasm for the Qatar World Cup keeps increasing as the 90 minutes that define our involvement approach. Yet, many don’t acknowledge the implications that building an event of this size will take. How did they manage to build over seven stadiums, a new airport, metro and roads? The amount of people required is gigantic due to the fact that the deadline is November 2022. How can the cost be covered?
Truth is, they are not paying a lot to their workers. For the first time, Amnesty has identified mistreatment and abuses over the construction of a World Cup stadium, an integral part of the football tournament. The state has gotten a huge amount of criticism about how it treated the 30,000 migrant laborers, accusing FIFA and Qatar authorities of ongoing abuse and ‘appalling treatment’ of workers on the stadiums. They can’t change jobs or leave the country, and usually have to wait for months to receiv
e a mediocre salary.
Meanwhile, FIFA (football’s global governing body), the sponsors and the construction companies involved are set to make massive financial gains from the tournament. One of the employers for Khalifa (one of the stadiums) repeatedly compared the standards to prison. They even claim that the business’ general manager said “If you want to stay in Qatar, shut up and keep working”. This was declared to the journalist of ‘The Guardian’ during an interview.
This work could be considered slavery, causing real distress on people starting new lives. As the world expands Qatar’s fame, the lens does not capture the tremendous amount of corruption and discrimination directed to migrant workers. The company’s reward is a gigantic amount of money, while the public just wants to see the World Cup finals without even considering the story behind.
Bibliography:
“Migrant Workers Suffer 'Appalling Treatment' in Qatar World Cup Stadiums, Says Amnesty.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 Mar. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/mar/31/migrant-workers-suffer-appalling-treatment-in-qatar-world-cup-stadiums-says-amnesty.
“Qatar World Cup of Shame.” Amnesty International, 29 July 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/qatar-world-cup-of-shame/.
“Qatar.” Stadiums, https://mofa.gov.qa/en/qatar/2022-fifa-world-cup/stadiums.
“World Cup 2022: How Has Qatar Treated Stadium Workers?” BBC News, BBC, 1 Apr. 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042.