A report commissioned by FIFA has concluded that football’s governing body has a “responsibility” to compensate workers who suffered losses during the staging of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The long-awaited report from FIFA’s Human Rights and Social Responsibility Subcommittee, finally released at midnight CET on Friday, said FIFA’s governing body “has taken a range of measures to seek to fulfill its responsibility to respect human rights” as one of the part of.
However, FIFA failed to meet one of the report’s key recommendations, which was to use the Qatari Heritage Fund to redress workers affected by human rights abuses, instead announcing that it would donate the money to several other organizations that would not directly compensate Qatar. Worker’s project.
FIFA insists the study is not a “legal assessment of remedial obligations”.
The independent study, commissioned by the subcommittee and conducted by business and human rights consultancy Human Level, found that “from 2010 to 2022, Qatar did end up having some serious human rights impacts on some workers.”
This includes “deaths, injuries and illnesses; wages not being paid for months on end; workers and their families facing huge debts to repay the fees they paid to obtain jobs in Qatar.
While acknowledging that “the primary responsibility for correcting these deficiencies lies with the direct employers of these workers and the Government of Qatar,” the subcommittee “concurs with the view expressed in the Human Level Study that FIFA also has a responsibility to take additional steps to provide for these workers” Provide redress.
World Cup organizers put the death toll directly related to the hosting of the tournament at 40.
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A FIFA spokesman said: “FIFA management and relevant bodies took into account all reports and recommendations in a comprehensive review process. While not all recommendations could be implemented, practical and impactful elements were retained.
“It should be noted that the study does not specifically constitute a legal assessment of the obligation to remediate.”
The report recommended that FIFA should use the Qatar Heritage Fund to assist affected workers or the families of the deceased.
The subcommittee recommended that they “act in line with FIFA’s intention stated in its press release of 19 November 2022 to use all or part of the FIFA World Cup Legacy Fund to further strengthen the tournament’s legacy for migrant workers.”
However, two days before the report was released, FIFA announced that the $50 million in funding would be used to work with Qatar and three other countries: the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A series of global social programs in partnership with several organizations.
A FIFA spokesperson said: “Following a proposal from the FIFA Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee, the FIFA Council unanimously agreed to establish the FIFA 2022 World Cup Legacy Fund.
“Qadda established the Workers Support and Insurance Fund in 2018 and FIFA believes the new Heritage Fund, endorsed by a recognized international body, is a pragmatic and transparent initiative that will cover social projects to help those most in need around the world. Help people.
After Qatar was awarded the right to host the World Cup, FIFA made human rights a consideration in its bid to host the event.
On Friday, FIFA’s assessment report on Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup announced that the human rights risk assessment was “moderate.”
On December 11, the FIFA Congress will vote on the organizer of this World Cup – Saudi Arabia has no competitors in its bid.
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(Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
