Goal:
To call on the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and its President, Sepp Blatter, to use its influence over the World Cup organizers to ensure all future World Cups are slavery free, starting with Qatar as a top priority.
Summary:
Numerous reports from partner organizations as well as large international NGOs documented the intolerable conditions faced by migrant workers employed in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup, conditions that amount to modern slavery. We identified three key concerns: overcrowded accommodations, brutally long days working in the blistering heat, and regular abuses of rights such as having passports withheld. The exploitative kafala system in Qatar allow these concerns to continue unchallenged, thus abuse of migrant workers in Qatar is an everyday practice. We call on FIFA to use its influence over Qatar to improve the working conditions for these workers and to ensure that the protection of fundamental labor rights is a requirement for countries to be eligible to host future World Cups.
Outcome:
A total of 141,030 advocates petitioned FIFA. FIFA has pledged to do more to improve the “unacceptable” situation for workers on its World Cup-related projects, but these words have yet to be followed by action. We continue to be vigilant in monitoring abuses and looking for opportunities to bring about positive change.
