Revealed: football’s plan for Qatar workers’ centre as World Cup legacy | World Cup 2022

In football, plans are being developed to create a permanent workers center in Qatar that would support migrant workers’ rights as football is expected to leave a positive legacy after the 2022 World Cup.

The Union of International Actors, Fifpro, in collaboration with the Construction and Woodworkers International, has held discussions with a number of stakeholders about the center, where workers can get legal advice and assistance. On Friday, Adidas, a major sponsor of the World Cup, publicly announced its support for such a plan.

“Employment conditions and human rights must continue to improve when Qatar is in the spotlight after the end of the World Cup,” said Fifpro General Secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann. “The center … has the potential to provide migrant workers with a permanent place to seek help when needed and ensure that they are not isolated or marginalized by employers.”

In a statement released to the Guardian, Adidas said it supports the establishment of a permanent office for the UN agency International Labor Organization in Qatar. The ILO has a technical cooperation program with Qatar to ensure compliance with international labor conventions by 2023.

An Adidas spokesman said: “For seven years we have been committed to improving the human rights situation in Qatar with our partners. This includes supporting the establishment of an independent ILO office as an independent local monitoring body, strengthening the rights of foreign migrants and promoting a national minimum wage for all workers. “

It is believed that informal discussions were held with Qatari officials about a permanent workers’ center involving Fifa and other World Cup sponsors. The talks are collaborative, with the aim of gaining the support of the Qatari regime.

The workers’ center is a concrete idea as football’s attention is focused on next year’s tournament and the legacy it will leave behind.

Workers from the Katara Towers project in Lusail City, Qatar, leave the site after work. Photo: Pete Pattisson / The Guardian

Players from several international teams protested for more human rights in Qatar last year. Amnesty International released this week an assessment of the progress made by the Qatari authorities in ensuring the protection and rights of migrant workers. It found that certain key changes – mainly related to workers’ freedom to leave their jobs and leave the country – had not been consistently observed and workers continued to be denied wages. “Progress has stagnated,” says the report.

The Qatari top-level committee, which is responsible for hosting the soccer World Cup, has committed itself to implementing changes to labor laws as part of its “inheritance contribution to workers’ rights in Qatar”. She rejected Amnesty’s conclusions, claiming that the situation has improved for “hundreds of thousands” of workers. “Qatar has never shied away from recognizing that its labor system is still in operation,” the authorities said.

The Amnesty report also called on football associations around the world to speak out to “ensure that the rights of migrant workers are respected”. There is a growing interest in how the UK Federation will meet this challenge.

In 2018, the FA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Qatar, then Chairman Greg Clarke, describing it as a partnership dedicated to sharing “knowledge and experience in support of the development of football”. It is unclear whether the agreement goes beyond that.

Hugging Bukayo Saka here, Gareth Southgate said he and England’s players would “take the time to tell us about Qatar”. Photo: Nigel Keene / ProSports / REX / Shutterstock

After England qualified for the World Cup, Gareth Southgate said he and his team would “take the time to tell us about Qatar”. “If we feel that there are areas that we can highlight and help, then of course we have always tried and would,” said the manager.

The Guardian expects the Association of Professional Footballers to hold focus groups with the captains of each division to discuss key issues related to Qatar.

The pressure on players in England to move from training to action will certainly increase. But the picture is probably complicated. The FA’s letter of intent with Qatar was negotiated with the consent of the Conservative government, and Southgate stated this week that “we as a nation do a lot of business” with Qatar and that the situation is “very complex”.

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An FA spokesman said: “We are in dialogue with Amnesty International as well as with Fifa, Uefa, other member associations and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and we are working closely with all of them to ensure that we take part in the upcoming Fifa tackle the World Cup in a socially responsible manner.

“From these discussions so far, we assume that Qatar has made significant strides on labor rights. We recognize, however, that there is more to be done. We continue to believe that change is best achieved by working with others so that we can keep asking the right questions and always being aware that we have our own challenges in this country. “

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/19/revealed-football-plan-for-qatar-workers-centre-as-world-cup-legacy