1. The Stadiums Are Being Built With Slave Labour
Perhaps it should have been expected when such a major building project as all the stadiums and infrastructure to host the World Cup is handed to a country with a known history of exploiting migrant labourers, but the findings of a recent
report in The Guardian still came as a shock to many, including authorities at FIFA. UEFA President Michel Platini, one of the people who voted in favour Qatar as host, has stated that he is "much more concerned" about these reports than about the discussion to move the whole thing to winter, suggesting that if anything stands in the way of Qatar remaining World Cup host then it could be this. There are 1.2 million migrant labourers currently working on construction projects around Qatar's World Cup plans, with a further 500,000 expected to arrive in the coming years. In particular labourers from Nepal, of which there are well over 300,000 working on World Cup related construction, are caught in chain of exploitation taking them from their villages in Nepal to building sites like Lusail City, a city being built from scratch complete with the Final's 90,000 capacity stadium. There are reports of labourers being denied free access to drinking water in the desert heat. During the summer Nepalese workers died at a rate of almost one a day, often young men having sudden heart attacks. Between 4 June and 8 August at least 44 workers died, mostly from heart failure and workplace accidents. The report predicts that up to 4000 labourers could be killed through bad working conditions between now and kick off in the first game. Migrant workers run into debt instantly by having to pay recruitment agents in Nepal to get them jobs in Qatar. Being forced to repay these debts while their wages often remain unpaid and their identity documents are confiscated places these migrant labourers in an inescapable position that is tantamount to forced labour. "These working conditions and the astonishing numbers of deaths of vulnerable workers go beyond forced labour to the slavery of old where human beings were treated as objects," said Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, last week. Even if FIFA doesn't pull the World Cup, it must do something to prevent this treatment of the workers putting it together. So, what's the solution to all this? Well, a number of interested parties have suggested that the best thing for all concerned would be simply to get the executive committee to vote again on all the 2022 bids. It was quite unusual of FIFA to award two World Cups together at once in 2010 and there would still be nine years for a newly selected host nation to get things together in good time for their own event. The United States, Japan and South Korea have all successfully hosted the competition in recent years, while Australia put on a good show with the 2000 Olympics and have an ever improving football culture. Any of those would be well placed to take over.