After Amnesty International denounced the silence of the Blues on migrant workers in Qatar, the minister asks the FFF to provide her with evidence concerning its action for human rights.
As the FIFA World Cup in Qatar approaches, the “deafening silence” of the Blues does not pass. A few days ago, Amnesty International denounced in an open letter the silence of the France team “in the face of the thousands of migrant workers who died on Qatari construction sites, and the thousands of others subjected to forced labor”. It is now the turn of the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa Castéra, to react. In a letter addressed to the French Football Federation (FFF), she asks the federation to provide evidence of its action concerning human rights during the World Cup in Qatar, which will be held from November 20 to December 18.
She reminds us: Amélie Oudéa Castéra insisted during a meeting with the deputy vice-president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, that the Federation “quickly take measures to ensure that the participation of our French team in the World Cup in Qatar can be done in accordance with our values relating to human rights and ecological transition”. And if the minister explains that she has noted the press release of September 23 in which the FFF highlights several steps taken, she asks the body “to kindly inform (him) of (his) progress” on these “challenges”.
By this, the Minister means many “concrete initiatives” : “On the point relating to the verification of working conditions at the base camp of the France team in particular, I ask you to let me know, as of now, the concrete initiatives that you have taken and you will also communicate to me , when the time comes, the results of the next on-site visits»she wrote.
On Tuesday, Philippe Diallo assured that the body was working with several other federations on a compensation fund for victims of accidents at work on World Cup sites. It must be said that the subject is heated: the question of the rights of migrant workers in Qatar has been regularly raised by NGOs since the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the rich gas state of the Gulf, in 2010. does not evolve.
In this letter, the Minister also details the different areas on which the audit mission targeting the FFF will focus, which the Minister entrusted to the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research on September 16. , following the publication in the magazine So Foot of an article implicating the FFF and its president Noël Le Graët. He is accused of having sent text messages of a sexual nature to employees. A defamation complaint has since been filed by the federation. The mission launched by the Minister “will take hold in the next few days” with the president of the FFF.