A year after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a new report by Amnesty International reveals that Qatar continues to exploit and abuse the migrant workers who helped build the infrastructure for the event.
Despite previous promises to improve working conditions, the situation remains dire.
The report, based on 13 years of research by Amnesty International, includes interviews with current and former migrant workers in Qatar, representatives from trade unions, and data from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
It states that the poor conditions were predictable but could have been prevented if responsible actions had been taken in time.
The spotlight that the World Cup brought to Qatar and stars like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé quickly faded, and so did Qatar's promised improvements in working conditions for the migrant workers.
Thousands of these workers lost their lives during the construction of stadiums and other infrastructure.
The report criticizes FIFA for its role in this human rights crisis. It accuses FIFA and Qatar of deflecting responsibility for human rights violations for years before belatedly changing course.
Amnesty International argues that many of the severe human rights abuses in Qatar could have been prevented or mitigated if FIFA had taken its human rights responsibilities seriously from the beginning.
Finally, Amnesty International calls on FIFA to set clear and binding human rights requirements for future World Cup host countries.
This comes amid indications that the World Cup might be hosted by another dictatorship, Saudi Arabia, in 2034. The report underscores the ongoing failure of Qatar to meet its commitments to migrant workers and the urgent need for FIFA to uphold human rights standards in its operations.
