“The clock is ticking” for Qatar’s 2022 football world cup, warned a FIFA representative who was attending a European Parliament hearing on Thursday (13 February) that looked into reports of forced labour and deaths on stadium construction sites. Trade unions are now calling on the world football governing body to "rerun the vote".
“FIFA will not turn a blind eye. Deaths that have occurred need to be addressed,” said Dr Theo Zwanziger, a member of the FIFA Executive Committee.
“The situation is unacceptable. There needs to be an improvement in the working conditions” of foreign workers employed on World Cup construction sites, Zwanziger said, speaking through an interpreter.
The German high-ranking FIFA official was addressing a European Parliament hearing in Brussels on sports and human rights, which focused on the situation of migrant workers in Qatar.
“The clock is ticking” he warned.
Pressure is mounting on the Qatari authorities to take action after a report by The Guardian newspaper revealed that 185 Nepalese workers had died on World Cup construction sites in 2013 alone because they had been denied food and water.
Evidence is growing of forced labour in the Qatari construction industry responsible for building the stadiums and other infrastructure. Speaking to EurActiv in August last year, Aidan McQuade, the director of Anti-Slavery International, called for a boycott of the event.
http://www.euractiv.com/development-policy/fifa-urged-rerun-vote-qatars-202-news-533529
“FIFA will not turn a blind eye. Deaths that have occurred need to be addressed,” said Dr Theo Zwanziger, a member of the FIFA Executive Committee.
“The situation is unacceptable. There needs to be an improvement in the working conditions” of foreign workers employed on World Cup construction sites, Zwanziger said, speaking through an interpreter.
The German high-ranking FIFA official was addressing a European Parliament hearing in Brussels on sports and human rights, which focused on the situation of migrant workers in Qatar.
“The clock is ticking” he warned.
Pressure is mounting on the Qatari authorities to take action after a report by The Guardian newspaper revealed that 185 Nepalese workers had died on World Cup construction sites in 2013 alone because they had been denied food and water.
Evidence is growing of forced labour in the Qatari construction industry responsible for building the stadiums and other infrastructure. Speaking to EurActiv in August last year, Aidan McQuade, the director of Anti-Slavery International, called for a boycott of the event.
http://www.euractiv.com/development-policy/fifa-urged-rerun-vote-qatars-202-news-533529