Qatar 2022: Webinar discusses claims around the tournament incl. workers' rights; employers not "stepping up" for workers
"World Cup 2022: Experts call for a compensation fund for migrant workers in Qatar", 11 Aug 2022
The latest Independent Premium webinar concentrated on the always controversial subject of the Qatar World Cup.
A panel of The Independent’s chief football writer Miguel Delaney, Isobel Archer from the Business and Human Rights Centre, Malcolm Bidali, a former security guard who was jailed in Qatar when he spoke out about working conditions and former British diplomat and founder of human rights group FairSquare, James Lynch, took part on a wide ranging discussion about the event which starts in November in the Gulf country.
The hour-long chat looked at the many claims around the tournament, including allegations of corruption against Qatar to win the bid in the first place, the continuing debate over workers’ rights, the issue of LGBT and whether it will all leave an indelible stain on the tournament.
Isobel gave examples of how workers are discriminated, including through “unfair” and “unscrupulous” practices such as recruitment fees, wages being withheld, or being unbale to switch to new jobs, despite promises of reform.
"Many companies have already made huge profits at the expense of those hundreds of thousands of migrant workers making up the backbone of the World Cup...We are simply just not seeing employers step up to address these risks in the kind of systematic and meaningful way that’s needed.”Isobel Archer, BHRRC Gulf Programme Manager