Qatar and the World Cup

Qatar’s plans to host the 2022 World Cup, an event watched by nearly half of humanity, are in trouble yet again.  This time, Qatar’s difficulty is due to reports of slavery-like labor conditions in the country.  A meeting of the international soccer federation FIFA this week was widely expected to ratify moving the 2022 games from summer to winter because of the country’s oppressive heat, but instead FIFA’s executive committee has pushed the decision off until at least next summer.  Several top FIFA officials suggested that Qatar’s labor scandal made an immediate decision all but impossible.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper revealed last week that Nepalese workers building a new city in Qatar for the World Cup had been living in forced labor conditions similar to slavery.  Nepalese expats comprise one of the largest groups of foreign laborers in Qatar, and the Guardian claimed that at least forty-four of them died over the summer, mostly from work-induced heart failure or workplace accidents.  Many were denied drinking water or had paychecks or passports stolen from them by their employers.  The world’s largest federation of trade unions estimated that at current rates of mortality, more people would die preparing for Qatar’s games than actually play in them.

Doha is obviously unhappy with these allegations, and friendly media outlets such as Al Jazeera and local papers have either played down the scandal or given it extremely biased coverage.  Qatari officials promised an investigation and hired an international law firm to head the inquiry.  While this is a positive step, it rings hollow so long as Doha continues to deny any wrongdoing.  Compounding the negative press, Nepal was forced to recall its ambassador under pressure from Doha.

Qatar’s labor minister has since announced plans to hire more inspectors and translators to keep tabs on foreign workers.  However, rights groups have dismissed this response as insufficient, since simply enforcing Doha’s current laws is a formula for more tragedy.  The country’s dangerous kafala labor system puts employers in charge of visas for foreign labor and gives bosses the authority to decide whether a worker can change jobs.  As a result, unscrupulous employers can easily withhold a worker’s passport, making it difficult to exit the country or seek legal redress.

This episode is actually the latest in a series of setbacks for Qatar and its goal of hosting the World Cup.  Qatar’s proponents have been forced to explain the country’s laws that restrict alcohol and criminalize homosexuality or public displays of affection.  They have also tried to minimize the persistent allegations of bribery and “direct political influence” that still shadow Qatar’s bid to host these games.

David Andrew Weinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.