FIFA pressure group calls for sponsors to speak out on conditions facing migrant workers in Qatar

New FIFA Now have called on sponsors of FIFA to speak out about the poor conditions facing migrant workers in Qatar ©Getty Images

FIFA reform group New FIFA Now have today called on companies who sponsor football’s governing body to challenge human rights issues facing migrant workers at World Cup construction sites being built for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

The group, officially launched during a summit of the European Parliament in Brussels in January, claim big name global brands who attach their name to FIFA should “accept responsibility” for their hypocrisy concerning the conditions in which workers are living in Qatar.

They have urged sponsors to speak out in order to prompt a change in the way workers from countries such as Nepal and India are treated ahead of what they call the “Hypocrisy World Cup”.

Workers are allegedly expected to live in squalid housing with limited toilet facilities and appalling cooking amenities, and it is claimed they are often not paid their full amount and are forced to hand over their passports on arrival so they cannot leave the country.

New FIFA Now have been joined by international workers unions, including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and they say FIFA “have turned a blind eye” to the problem.

“Qatar is a slave state and FIFA knows this,” ITUC secretary general Sharan Burrows said here.

“The state of Qatar accepts no responsibility and neither do FIFA.

“Workers feel trapped and the conditions they are living in are appalling and it is no way to live.

“They could be doing so much more to help but they choose not to.”

ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrows claims Qatar is a slave state and FIFA knows it — ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrows claims "Qatar is a slave state and FIFA knows it" ©ITUC

Jaimie Fuller, chairman of sportswear manufacturer SKINS, has written to the likes of McDonalds, Adidas and Coca-Cola outlining some of the key issues facing migrant workers and how FIFA has refused to accept responsibility for the problem.

He claimed that by pouring vast sums of money into football’s governing body, which has been plagued with allegations of corruption and greed in recent years, these global brands are providing “implicit support” for working practices and conditions in Qatar.

“The kefala problem is just the tip of the FIFA iceberg but it graphically shows their negligence and their level of self-denial when it comes to confronting international football’s major issues,” Fuller said.

“So far, FIFA’s sponsors have restricted themselves to a series of rhetorical statements aimed at defending an indefensible association.”

Qatar was controversially awarded the 2022 World Cup in December 2010 amid fierce accusations of corruption and has faced serious allegations since.

Serious concerns have been raised over the conditions facing migrant workers in Qatar ©Getty Images

Qatari authorities insist they are addressing the problem but they again came under fire for human rights issues today after it emerged journalists from the BBC were allegedly detained while on an invited press trip, during which they were investigating the living practices of migrant workers.

Hundreds of labourers from Nepal, India and other countries are said to have been killed on construction sites for the 2022 tournament, and British MP Damian Collins, a fervent campaigner with New FIFA Now, says football’s governing body and their sponsors “have blood on their hands”.

“We are concerned that nothing is being done and Qatar and FIFA aren’t delivering what they promised,” he said.

“People are dying out there and they have blood on their hands.”