Fifa rejects own committee’s call to compensate Qatar workers

Controversy over the human cost of building the infrastructure required for the 2022 tournament in the gulf state’s extreme summer heat has hung over the event for years.

In 2021, it was revealed that 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its bid to host the World Cup in 2010.

The Qatari government said not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects, and that many could have died from old age or other natural causes.

During the event, organisers said the number of migrant workers who died on World Cup-related projects was “between 400 and 500”.

Qatar introduced labour reforms from 2017, with more protection for workers, a minimum wage, and the dismantling of the controversial ‘kafala’ sponsorship system, but there have been long-standing concerns over the implementation of the changes.

Despite generating a record £6bn from the World Cup, Fifa resisted calls from campaigners, players’ unions, fan representative groups and some European football federations for a £350m compensation fund for the families of workers who were injured or who had died, instead committing instead to the legacy fund.