During the preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, laborers from Nepal start work late at night to avoid the heat.
Photo credit: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022
With only three months left before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, criticism of workers’ human rights violations has emerged across the globe.
On February 23, 2021, the British magazine, Guardian, revealed that over 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh have died since 2010 after Qatar was confirmed as the venue for the festival. Unfortunately, the careless attitudes of the Qatar government and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) have left this circumstance unsolved, sparking controversy.
During the 92-year history of the World Cup, it has always been a festival for people around the planet to unite and develop the soccer industry. And it has given great significance to gathering people worldwide to enjoy and connect their hearts with soccer escaping from their daily lives.
However, the tracks of the following festival differ from the previous World Cups. For building up the infrastructure in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, many migrant workers were employed, and violations of human rights against them occurred. Impersonal working time, unsafe working conditions, poor accommodation, deceptive salary, unpaid wages, passport seizure, and unfair dynamics are the main challenges the workers are suffering even at this moment. For these reasons, the following World Cup doesn’t match the World Cup’s essence, uniting and enjoying.
In 12 years of unethical preparation, neither the Qatar government nor FIFA took meaningful action. Even though some reforms were made in Qatar, including restrictions on working hours, the guarantee of wage payments, and the abolition of the departure permit system, many laborers testified that only the documents changed and the scene was the same with the non-stopping rates of deaths. Meanwhile, FIFA has seemed to evade its responsibility on the prolonged issue.
Due to all the controversy and deaths, many legends and soccer fans declared a boycott of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, being very vocal that the 2022 FIFA World Cup is filled with blood. Human rights should play the most significant role in the awarding of a tournament, not the money. Enjoying a party made of human blood is not the way of any festivals. The world’s attention is needed to cease the infringements upon human rights, and the victims must be properly rewarded with a financial and sincere apology from the two organizations.
Written by Yu Bin Kwon | Managing Editor
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