Qatar 2022: the proceeds from the sale of Dutch jerseys have still not gone to immigrant workers

2023-09-29 00:34:28

Nine months later, the Netherlands is still waiting for its football federation to move from words to action. An investigation published this Wednesday in the general national media “ RTL News » reveals that the auction of jerseys worn by Dutch players during the World Cup in Qatar, which had raised 380,000 euros which were to be donated “in full” to immigrant workers in the emirate, have still not reached their destination.

This initiative had been decided by the federation, in consultation with the players of the national team, during the World Cup, of which the Dutch federation had been one of those which had been the most vocally critical. Virgil Van Dijk and his partners had met migrant workers on site.

Nine months later, the money has still not arrived safely and, what’s more, the sum has melted somewhat: there is “only” 228,976.67 euros left, according to the media’s very precise account. Dutch. The reason: the payment of fees used to organize the auction. The Dutch Football Federation (KNVB) called on the company “MatchWornShirts” to manage this operation, the platform on which the jerseys were sold and which justifies significant costs for “having traveled to Qatar , harvest, photograph the jerseys and immediately put them up for auction”, in addition to the costs incurred on site, explains the article.

Each jersey invoiced 100 euros by the federation to the service provider responsible for the sale

“In addition to the travel and accommodation costs for the employees, the jerseys had to be made DNA-free using special washing machines and even the jerseys were not provided free of charge by the KNVB, but 100 euros per jersey were invoiced for all 179 jerseys auctioned, representing a cost of 17,900 euros, explains the article. The total amount was increased by 25,500 euros in taxes. »

The KNVB press manager explains that “these costs were necessary for this auction to take place” and believes that the declaration made by the Federation that the entire amount was going to be donated was made “incorrectly at the time , we should have said that we would transfer the net amount in full.”

The sum reached “Mondiaal FNV” in May 2023, a union which fights for workers’ rights internationally and which was contacted by the KNVB to take care of the proper distribution of funds. If the process has been significantly delayed, the money, a little over 220,000 euros, should reach migrant workers in four forms, explained the KNVB in June : “personal development assistance, legal assistance, activities to promote workers’ rights and social activities”