"World Cup 2022: Migrant workers who met England players in Qatar were ‘too scared to tell the truth’," 18 Nov 2022

A Nepalese construction worker who suffered horrific abuses on Qatar World Cup projects claims that migrant workers who met with the England team this week did not reflect the experiences of the vast majority and could even have been too afraid to tell the truth...

England players met with migrant workers, selected by World Cup organisers, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, at their Al Wakrah training base on Thursday. Two workers made available to the media praised the World Cup organisers and spoke positively about their time in Qatar.

“Whatever the workers told to the England football team I think that is 100 per cent not accurate,” Mr Adsikari told i via a translator from Equidem, a human rights charity. “The reality is 100 per cent different. There are exceptionally few who may have the salary promised and the work promised, but it would be very few who had good conditions.

“The overwhelming majority were deceived. Perhaps Fifa could have selected some of the workers who had a better situation or even could be those workers who are too intimidated to speak the truth. I have seen companies take action, or send workers back home for telling the truth while I was working. I experienced a different side and there are so many others who have faced different challenges.

“Those workers could be either from the exceptional few having a better situation or could be those facing challenges but too scared to tell the truth. Whatever happened doesn’t reflect the reality there.” ...

The English Football Association and Fifa declined to comment. The Supreme Committee and HBK Engineering Services did not respond to a request for comment.