May 15 – Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Fairsquare have warned of increased migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia, the host country of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Reports published by the organisations have highlighted the gruelling circumstances migrant workers face in Saudi Arabia – with HRW claiming “scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia die in gruesome yet avoidable workplace-related accidents, including falling from buildings, electrocution, and even decapitation.”
“The risks of occupational deaths and injuries are further increasing as the Saudi government ramps up construction work for the 2034 World Cup as well as other ‘giga-projects,” the organisation added.
Last December, FIFA awarded the hosting rights of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia after an expedited bidding process with no other candidates. It will be the second global finals to be staged in the Middle East after Qatar’s 2022 football extravaganza was overshadowed by persistent labour abuses in the build-up to the tournament.
FIFA ignored human rights concerns with, according to Network Operator Groups (NOG), a “flawed” assessment of Saudi Arabia’s human rights policy.
FIFA responded to HRW’s report through a letter from general secretary Mattias Grafstrom who said that FIFA will establish “a workers’ welfare system” that will include “dedicated mandatory standards and enforcement mechanisms applicable to all companies and workers involved in FIFA World Cup-related construction and service delivery.”
Grafstrom notes that Saudi Arabia “has taken significant steps to reform its labour laws since 2018, including the abolition of parts of the kafala system which ties workers to their employers, and introducing standardised contracts for employees.”
Previously, FIFA and Qatari authorities also made that claim, but abuses on the ground remained widespread. Last year, FIFA ignored the recommendation of its own sub-committee to provide compensation to migrant workers in Qatar. Instead, FIFA’s legacy fund will be steered towards UN bodies and the WTO.
“Hundreds of thousands of young men, many of whom have young families, are being pitched into a labour system that poses a serious risk to their lives, a medical system that doesn’t have the capacity to determine the cause of their deaths, and a political system that doesn’t appear to either protect them or find out how they died, let alone compensate the families shattered by Saudi Arabia’s negligence,” said FairSquare co-director James Lynch.
“While FIFA praises Saudi Arabia to the rafters and highly-paid western law firms generate vast profits for curating Saudi’s reputation, children in places like Nepal grow up without their fathers and never even learn how they died.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1747317055labto1747317055ofdlr1747317055owedi1747317055sni@i1747317055tnuk.1747317055ardni1747317055mas1747317055