“One death is a death too many” – 2022 FIFA World Cup chief condemns death of ‘reported’ 400 to 500 workers during competition projects
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After estimating that “between 400 and 500” migrant labourers died while working on projects related to Qatar’s World Cup 2022, World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi acknowledges that “improvements have to happen.”
Due to the Gulf state’s poor history with regard to human rights issues, its treatment of migrant workers, and the prohibition of homosexuality, the decision to give the competition to it in 2010 has only gained further controversy in the intervening years. The official tally of fatalities at World Cup venues includes three work-related accidents and 37 non-work-related deaths.
However, The Guardian estimated in 2017 that the overall number may exceed 6,500 deaths. As president Gianni Infantino passionately defended on the eve of the competition, FIFA has often reaffirmed its commitment to adequately preserving the rights of workers on projects like building stadiums.
Al-Thawadi, who was in charge of making sure infrastructure and development projects were completed in time for Qatar 2022, acknowledges that the true death toll is significantly more than the 40 that had been initially estimated. “The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500,” he told Piers Morgan in an interview with TalkTV. “I don’t have the exact number; that’s something that’s been discussed. One death is a death too many, plain and simple.”
“I think every year the health and safety standards on the sites are improving, at least on our sites. The World Cup sites that we were responsible for, most definitely to the extent that you’ve got trade unions commending the work that’s been done on the World Cup sites and the improvements,” he added.
2022 FIFA World Cup chief also talked about reforms being implemented during the competition’s preparation
When explicitly questioned about whether the project’s initial health and safety requirements were adequate, Al-Thawadi responded: “I think overall the need for labour reform itself dictates that yes, improvements have to happen. Just so we’re clear, this was something we recognised before we bid. The improvements that have already happened aren’t because of the World Cup. These are improvements we knew that we had to do because of our own values.”
“The World Cup served as a vehicle, an accelerator, as a catalyst because of the spotlight which we recognised early on was going to be shed. It caused a lot of initiative not only in terms of improvement in isolation but in terms of enforcing it as well. That’s where today we got to a position where our most ardent of critics consider us to be a benchmark in the region,” he added.
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Sujeeth Shetty
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