HRW urges next chief to combat worker abuse

Organisation wants issue resolved for 2018 Russia, 2022 Qatar World Cups

DUBAI: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday that the next president of FIFA should ensure that future hosts of the football World Cup comply with fundamental human rights for workers.

The call came with world football’s governing body in crisis following the arrest of seven of its officials Wednesday in Switzerland for alleged bribery, two days ahead of the FIFA presidential election.

“The next FIFA president needs to deal directly with crises — including human rights abuses and corruption — that are undermining the foundations of football’s management,” said HRW’s head of global initiatives, Minky Worden.

“When countries seek the right to host World Cups, they should also be expected to play by the rules.”

HRW said the newly-formed Sport and Rights Alliance had asked candidates for FIFA’s top post to “tackle rights and labour abuses related to the 2018 Russia World Cup and 2022 Qatar World Cup.”

“Qatar’s abusive ‘kafala’ sponsorship system for migrant workers ...  is a key part of a highly exploitative labour system,” said the New York-based HRW.

Worden charged that the arrests “have spotlighted FIFA’s unaccountable system,” arguing that “there should also be new scrutiny of the conditions for a vast army of migrant labourers who are building massive new infrastructure to host the World Cup.”

An investigation by international law firm DLA Piper, according to The Independent, showed that about 964 construction workers from Bangladesh, India and Nepal had died in the country back in 2012 and 2013.

HRW said incumbent president Sepp Blatter had “made no personal commitment to address these issues” during his 17 years at the helm. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th,  2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.