With the World Cup fast approaching, one health and safety worker will ‘not comment on the Qatar World Cup’ as we look into the controversy surrounding the tournament.
Ever since they won the right to host the world cup 10 years ago, everyone knew it would be a stretch as no stadiums in the country were labelled ‘good for a World Cup’.
People from all over the world moved to Qatar in order to supply for their family and build the stadiums. These people came from all over such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
It has been estimated that around 6,500 workers died from different factors during the ten-year period, however it is believed there is a lot more as some weren’t registered.
It was also to be said that all the workers passports were taken off of them so that none of them would try and flee from the country.
There were many causes of these deaths, with this including things such as falling from heights and being ill from the bad working conditions.
Qatar carries on to ‘drag its feet on this critical and urgent issue in apparent disregard for workers’ lives’ said Hiba Zayadi, Gulf researcher for Human Rights Watch.[1]
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022?adlt=strict&toWww=1&redig=A4730D76268A4C3DB76E78581E9AE01F
With the World Cup being held in Winter due to the heat, the workers were in those conditions all year round working in 40-50c heat and a lot of deaths are believed to be to do with that.
However, the chiefs of the Qatar World Cup are furious as they believe it to be a ‘myth’ and claim that only three people have lost their lives rather than the total of 6,500, so why is there such a difference?[1]
The number might be overestimated as the deaths could be calculated for anything and not just because of work conditions, for example if a worker died due to not work relations it would be calculated down and counted as a death related to the building of the stadiums.
One worker has stated “The money is paid on time, our accommodation and food is free, so I can give at least half of that straight back to my family at home. It has made a huge difference to our lives.”[2]
Him and his friend were charged £2000 which calculates to 5 months of work as he was earning around £400 a month.
Many people are saying we should ‘boycott’ this world cup due to it being one of a kind and not like one that will ever happen again.
This is due to what is stated in this article and believe it is unfair and all the hard work will go to waste after the World Cup has finished as the stadiums will not needed to be used again.
The World Cup starts this Sunday where the hosts Qatar take on Ecuador.
[1] https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/16746561/qatar-world-cup-chiefs-worker-deaths-three/
[2] ^
