International trade unions warned FIFA that migrant workers in Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, were subjected to conditions of “modern slavery.” Soccer’s world governing body responded that itwould take up the issue with Qatari authorities and that labor rights would in future be included among the criteria considered when countries bid for the World Cup.
“We asked theFIFA secretary general (Jerome Valcke) if they wanted their stadiums to be built by slave workers, by exploited labor,” Ambet Yuson, general secretary ofBuilding and Wood Workers International (BWI), told Reuters’ Brian Homewood. “Ninety-four percent of workers are migrants in Qatar. It’s basically modernslavery.
“They are migrant workers from India, Nepal and Bangladesh; they go there and their passports are withheld, sometimes they don’t get paid their salaries or they are sixmonths late and they have no other options. It’s terrible; I was there, their living quarters are really bad, it’s a bad situation.
“FIFA said they will use leverage,because Qatar wants the World Cup. We told them it’s serious and we are going to campaign. We said we want to see some action in six months.”