LONDON: Global football’s governing body FIFA must publish its review of compensation for workers affected during preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Amnesty International said on Thursday, urging a rapid and positive response to the findings.

Qatar came under intense pressure over its treatment of foreign workers working in extreme conditions, leading many to raise concerns, although the Middle Eastern country has denied that workers were exploited.

Amnesty said FIFA should publish and act on a review “assessing its human rights responsibilities” towards workers, saying its findings were approved by FIFA’s Council in March.

“Ahead of its annual congress next week, FIFA should make public the review it ordered into the organisation’s responsibilities to redress human rights abuses related to the 2022 World Cup,” said Steve Cockburn of the rights group. “FIFA received this review months ago but has yet to disclose or act on its findings,” added Cockburn, the group’s head of labour rights and sport.

“This delay only prolongs the suffering of families who lost loved ones and workers who were abused while delivering FIFA’s flagship event.

“The contents of the report may make uncomfortable reading for FIFA but there is overwhelming public support for it to act and no excuse for stalling any longer.”

In response, FIFA said stakeholders were studying and discussing the review.

“The findings will be published in due course once the review process has been completed,” a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters. “Experts and trade union representatives who have assessed and collaborated in the labour rights programme for World Cup workers have repeatedly testified to the robustness of this programme and recognised that major steps forward have occurred in the labour rights sphere.”

In 2022, Amnesty and other rights groups had led calls for FIFA to compensate migrant workers in Qatar for human rights abuses by setting aside $440 million.

At the World Cup in Doha, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said a workers’ support and insurance fund set up in 2018 by Qatar had provided compensation of more than $350 million to workers in cases mainly related to non-payment of wages.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2024