A report commissioned by FIFA has concluded that football’s governing body “has a responsibility” to compensate workers who suffered during Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
The long-awaited report from FIFA’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights and Social Responsibility – which was eventually published at midnight Central European time on Friday – states that the governing body has “taken a number of steps to meet its responsibility to respect human rights” as part of the implementation of the tournament two years ago.
However, FIFA failed to meet one of the report’s key recommendations, which is to use the Qatar Legacy Fund to reinstate workers affected by human rights abuses. Instead, they announced they would donate the money to several other programs that will not directly compensate Qatari workers.
FIFA stressed that the investigation was not a “legal assessment of the obligation to remedy”.
The independent study, commissioned by the subcommittee and developed by business and human rights consultancy ‘Human Level’, notes that “a number of serious human rights impacts ultimately occurred in Qatar from 2010 to 2022” for a number of employees . associated with the tournament.
This included “deaths, injuries and illnesses; wages are not paid for months; and significant debts faced by workers and their families in repaying the fees they paid to obtain jobs in Qatar.
While the Subcommittee recognizes that “the primary responsibility for redressing such deficiencies lies with the direct employers of these workers, as well as the Government of Qatar,” the Subcommittee endorses “the view expressed in the Human Level Study that the FIFA has a responsibility to take additional measures.” measures to contribute to providing recovery to these employees.”
World Cup organizers estimate the number of deaths directly linked to the conduct of the tournament at 40. Human rights groups have long estimated that thousands of workers were killed.
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A FIFA spokesperson said: “All reports and recommendations have been considered during a comprehensive review by the FIFA administration and relevant bodies. Although not all recommendations could be met, practical and impactful elements were retained.
“It should be noted that the investigation did not specifically constitute a legal assessment of the obligation to remedy.”
The report recommends that FIFA should use its Qatar Legacy Fund to reinstate affected employees or, for those who have died, their relatives.
The subcommittee advises them to “act on the intention, as stated by FIFA in a press release dated November 19, 2022, to dedicate all or part of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund to further strengthening the competition’s legacy for migrant employees. ”
However, two days before the publication of the report FIFA announced the $50 million fund would instead be used for a range of social programs worldwide, in partnership with Qatar and three organizations, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
A FIFA spokesperson said: “The establishment of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund was unanimously approved by the FIFA Council based on a proposal from FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee.
“A Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund was established in Qatar in 2018 and FIFA believes that the new Legacy Fund, supported by recognized international bodies, is a pragmatic and transparent initiative that will include social programs to help people around the world who are most in need.”
After awarding the World Cup to Qatar, FIFA added human rights as a consideration to its tournament bidding process.
On Friday, FIFA’s assessment report for Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid labeled its human rights risk assessment as “medium”.
A vote on the host nations for the tournament – where the Saudi bid has no rival – will take place at the FIFA Congress on December 11.
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(Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)