A report says FIFA has a “responsibility” to compensate Qatar World Cup staff

A report commissioned by FIFA concludes that the football association “bears a responsibility” to compensate staff who suffered throughout the hosting of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The long-awaited report of the FIFA Subcommittee on Human Rights and Social Responsibility, finally published at midnight Central European Time on Friday, said that the FIFA Subcommittee “has taken a number of steps to fulfill its responsibility for respecting human rights to do justice.” the organization of the tournament two years ago.

However, FIFA did not act on considered one of the report's key recommendations and used the Qatar Legacy Fund to assist staff affected by human rights abuses. Instead, it announced it could donate the cash to several other programs that do circuitously compensate staff in Qatar.

FIFA emphasized that the study was not “a legal assessment of the duty to remedy the situation.”

The independent study, commissioned by the subcommittee and developed by business and human rights consultancy Human Level, finds that “Qatar ultimately experienced a series of serious human rights impacts” for plenty of staff from 2010 to 2022 are related to the tournament.

These included “deaths, injuries and illnesses; Wages are not paid for months; and significant debts faced by workers and their families in reimbursing the fees they paid to seek employment in Qatar.”

While acknowledging that “the primary responsibility for correcting such deficiencies lies with the direct employers of these workers as well as the Qatari Government,” the Subcommittee “endorses the view expressed in the Human Level Study that FIFA is also responsible.” “has a responsibility to take additional measures to help provide relief for these workers.”

World Cup organizers put the variety of deaths directly linked to the staging of the tournament at 40. Human rights groups have long believed that 1000’s of staff died.

A FIFA spokesman said: “All reports and recommendations were considered as part of a comprehensive review by the FIFA administration and relevant committees. Although not all recommendations could be met, practical and effective elements were retained.

“It should be noted that the study is not specifically a legal assessment of the obligation to remedy the situation.”

The report recommends that FIFA should use its Qatar Legacy Fund to assist affected staff or, within the case of the deceased, their members of the family.

The subcommittee advises them to “comply with the intention announced by FIFA in a press release dated November 19, 2022 to use all or part of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund to further strengthen the legacy of the competition for migrant workers.”

However, two days before the report was published FIFA announced The $50 million fund would as a substitute be used for a variety of social programs worldwide in collaboration with Qatar and three organizations: the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

A FIFA spokesperson said: “The establishment of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund was unanimously endorsed by the FIFA Council following a proposal from the FIFA Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee.”

“A Workers Support and Insurance Fund was established in Qatar in 2018 and FIFA believes that the new Legacy Fund, supported by recognized international organizations, is a pragmatic and transparent initiative that will include social programs to help the people most in need to help around the world.”

After awarding the World Cup to Qatar, FIFA incorporated human rights into its tournament bidding process.

On Friday, FIFA's evaluation report on Saudi Arabia's bid for the 2034 World Cup declared its human rights risk assessment as “medium.”

A vote on the host of the tournament, where the Saudi bid is unrivaled, will happen on the FIFA Congress on December eleventh.