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THE WORLD HAS watched as controversy engulfs the governing body of soccer.
On 27 May, nine Fifa officials (together with five corporate executives) were taken into custody from a hotel in Zurich, Switzerland over allegations of corruption, specifically the receipt of enormous bribes totalling $100 million (€92 million).
On 2 June, Sepp Blatter – who was not arrested – announced he was going to step down as president of Fifa, having been in the role since 1998. The news came just days after he was re-elected for a fifth term.
Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has threatened to implicate Blatter and several others.
All of this has cast the spotlight back onto Qatar – which won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup – in controversial circumstances in 2010.
The country has a questionable human rights record and its ‘kafala’ labour law has been harshly criticised.
During the week, the Washington Post released a stark graphic highlighting the number of migrant workers who have died in Qatar in recent years.
Washington Post / TwitterThe human toll of FIFA’s corruption http://t.co/7r4SRZVtUQ pic.twitter.com/pjA9PwD63R
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 30, 2015
An estimated 1,200 migrant workers have died since Qatar was awarded the competition in 2010, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
The Qatari government completely refuted the Washington Post’s report, saying no workers whatsoever have died in relation to the build.
After almost five million work-hours on World Cup construction sites, not a single worker’s life has been lost. Not one.
“In preparing its report, it appears that the Post simply took the total annual mortality figures for Indian and Nepalese migrants working in Qatar and multiplied those numbers by the years remaining between now and the 2022 World Cup – a calculation which assumes that the death of every migrant worker in Qatar is work related.”
A Qatar-commissioned report into worker conditions claimed close to 1,000 migrant workers died in 2012 and 2013, although none died while at work.
Human Rights violations
Shane Darcy of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway is keeping a watchful eye as proceedings unfold. “It’s fascinating,” he said, noting the Fifa arrests have been “a long time coming”.
Darcy said it’s “frustrating” that human rights violations related to the World Cup bid in Qatar have been repeatedly overlooked.
However, he said it’s “heartening” that Fifa is finally being taken to task over the alleged corruption in the organisation.
The reason Fifa is being investigated is because of corruption charges and money laundering. They’re not being taken to task for human rights abuses. Corruption can be related to that, but that’s not the reason [US and Swiss authorities] are doing this.
Darcy said he “quite frankly wouldn’t be surprised” if the investigation found that bribes exchanged hands when awarding World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
He said another positive offshoot of the controversy is that it has got people talking and thinking about what goes on behind the scenes when preparing for a World Cup.
“Most soccer fans now know about the situation in Qatar,” Darcy noted.
He said it’s “hard to say if they’ll move the World Cup from Qatar” as it might not be “feasible” due to the huge amount of financial investment in the project.
During the week, England said it was ready to take over as host of the tournament in 2022 if needs be.
I don’t know if that’s feasible. There has been a huge amount of investment in Qatar – legally and maybe illegally.
An obvious consequence of the World Cup being moved from Qatar would be that thousands of migrant workers would lose their jobs. Many work and live in poor conditions.
BBC journalists reporting on this issue were arrested last month.
Last year human rights lawyer Orna Joyce told TheJournal.ie the living conditions for many of the workers are “absolutely horrific“.
You could have anything up to 15-20 people living in a tiny room. They’re expected to cook in that room as well … There have been reports of open sewers, right outside the dormitory places that they’re living in.
She was also very critical of the country’s ‘kafala’ labour system, which she said could lead to the exploitation and essential slavery of some workers.
Darcy noted that Qatari officials have promised to reform the kafala system, but no real change has occurred.
This might only be brought about if major international sponsors – such as Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Adidas, Visa and Busweiser – remove their support.
Darcy noted that such sponsors have been “hesitant to fully remove themselves” but said: “The corruption thing might push them more than the human rights thing.”
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The Guardian has relentlessly reported these abuses – even more disturbing than the corruption.
What do you mean “us” talking about it. You’re the media – you should report it. So ask that question to yourselves.
Correction. We were talking about it. Journalists weren’t. Just like the whole DOB scenario.
Am I the only person to have noticed the complete silence from the people who play the game. The footballers. What a powerful statement it would send to FIFA and Qatar if someone like messi or ronaldo said they would not play in their WC because of the outrageous treatment of workers in that country. One of if not the richest countries in the world should be the best place on the planet to work not one of the worst. The construction companies involved should also be named and shamed.
100% John, I was always boycotting this WC, not going to watch it, from the minute it was announced it seemed wrong, wrong climate, human rights problems, anti LGBT laws even as woman there would be so many objections. Footballers get paid so much it seems the more they have the less the rest of us matter. All that matters is is that they play in a tournament.
As soon as I heard the announcement that Qatar had won the rights; well any idiot (even me) knew how they won it. From that day on I decided that I would not watch any FIFA games but I think I am in the minority?
Now with the house of cards falling watch as the FIFA boys club turn on each other, dob each other in trying to cut deals etc.
They really are as low as a sewer rat, right now and have always been.
And dragged just about everyone else down to their level too. And the only person relentlessly reporting abut them over the years was that BBC reporter Andrew Jennings and no police force in any country bothered to investigate such a corrupt outfit.
bullshit headline. the deaths in Qatar have been on my Facebook for years and on the tongues of anyone I’ve talked to, often noting the media’s lack of reporting. the media who are largely owned by billionaires only write about themselves,elites and their interests and couldn’t give a crap about those on the scrap heap of life. that’s why there’s interest now rather than before.
Stupid headline. People have being talking about the Qatar fiasco and their slave labour policy for years.
Because no one cares when Arabs/Africans/Asians die… Only if it’s westerners that die or westerners that do the killing do people actually care. Baring that, bribery is just closer to home and people can relate to it
Actually you have it all twisted. It’s Arabs who don’t give a crap if a Nepalese or Indian dies on Gulf construction site. Contrast that to the stringent health and safety policies during Olympic venue construction in London for instance and you’ll see how idiotic your comment is.
Scipio: facts don’t mean nothing to these people who blame the west for all the problems in the ME.
Thanks for your “insight” Scorpio. Obviously the Arabs in Qatar don’t care about the Nepalese, but that wasn’t what the article was pointing out. If you read the article it was referring to the media storm around Blatter, as opposed to the relative media quiet around Qatar’s treatment of human beings. I was referring to the media only caring when westerners are involved which I believe is true and demonstrated by the situation in Qatar… That was obviously lost on you though
No one cares? Bull.
Well what do you expect? You live in a western country brainbox. Do you think the media in places like China, Saudi or India fret when it’s westerners killed? Of course not. You should try being a bit more succinct with comments next time and less Westerncentric.
Haha! I’m criticising the media for being westerncentric; and you’re advice to me is… not to be so westerncentric?!
Just go home man, thats twice you couldn’t grasp a simple comment… and twice you’ve insulted me to deflect from that fact
@Michael J. Way off base. Japan! China! Phlippines ! Nepal.Etc,
The FBI got the media talking about it when they made arrests. No European country had the balls. No country pulled out of the Quatar world cup to make a definitive statement to the organisation. Sponsors continued to prop it up despite the obvious bribery going on. Money does talk, and no one pulled that plug!
If it was women being exploited and dying in such numbers then you could be sure something would be done about it, however the fact that it’s men no one gives a sh** as men are the disposable sex.
“Disposable sex”, eh?
Oh dear.
Have you been burned in love and made bitter?
Nobody is disposable. What are you going to do about it? Boycott it. It’s the only thing they understand.
We don’t really care about human rights enough to sacrifice a couple of weeks watching soccer. We don’t really care about abuse of power or corruption either, but fortunate that a single independent TD decided to do something about it.
No one cared until this FIFA scandal. Sad! I will never step foot in one of their stadiums because I highly doubt they have any building regulations over there. Murdering cowboys!
Human rights of migrant workers in Qatar?
Pfft. What about their responsibilities?
See what I did there?
I took the logic of the many fools who commented on an article about rights and applied it here.
I then explained what I did to make it a little easier for them to understand.
bol111981
All depends who is friends with the U.S. I suppose, that is how our media works?
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