Faced with mounting pressure on FIFA from its own membership, led by the Norwegian Football Association, to redress human rights abuses associated with the 2022 Soccer World Cup, Steve Cockburn, Director of Economic Justice and Social of Amnesty International, has stated:
“With so many migrant workers in Qatar still without compensation for abuses suffered in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, it is heartening that FIFA’s membership has called on the organization to include a discussion of reparations in the work programme. of your next congress.
Despite widespread concern among football associations, players and sponsors, FIFA has yet to commit to ensuring that migrant workers – who suffered wage theft, illegal recruitment fees, injuries and even death in connection with organizing the tournament in Qatar — are compensated for their suffering.
It is time that FIFA held accountable for its human rights commitments and responded with an unequivocal action plan that provides justice for these workers and their families.
On the eve of the tournament, FIFA announced the establishment of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund; however, it remains unclear how it will be used or if any of it will go to redress abuses. For it to be a meaningful legacy, workers and their families must directly benefit from this fund.
Until now, FIFA has tried to evade its human rights responsibilities, relying on Qatar’s own redress mechanisms, which, in their current form, cannot provide redress to the extent necessary, especially to workers who have already left. gone from the country and to families who have lost loved ones.
Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, now has the opportunity to do the right thing with the workers who made the championship possible.”
Additional information
The Norwegian Football Association submitted a proposal to debate the issue of reparations for human rights abuses at the next FIFA Congress, to be held on March 16 in Kigali (Rwanda). The proposal was accepted by the FIFA Council, its executive body.