Three In Four Believe FIFA Should Compensate World Cup Migrant Workers - Poll

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2022) A total of 73% of people polled across 15 countries believe that the International Football Federation (FIFA) should use World Cup 2022 revenues to compensate migrant workers who suffered during tournament preparation, a poll carried out by YouGov for a prominent international human rights organization showed on Thursday.

YouGov surveyed 17,477 adults in Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The online survey was carried out from August 16 to September 6.

The poll, commissioned by Amnesty International, found that 73% of all respondents and 84% of those, who said that they are likely to watch at least one World Cup game, said that FIFA should compensate migrant workers. The countries with the strongest support are Kenya with 93%, Mexico with 86% and Spain with 83%. Only some 10% of the respondents said that they would oppose FIFA providing compensation to the workers, while 17% of the respondents remained undecided.

Another 67% of the respondents want their national football associations to speak up about the human rights issues connected with the upcoming World Cup 2022 in Qatar. The highest support was shown by Kenya with 93%, Spain with 74% and Finland with 71%. A total of 12% of the respondents oppose this initiative, while 21% of the respondents said they did not know.

"These findings send a clear message to football's leadership. Across the globe, people are united in their desire to see FIFA step up and make amends for the suffering endured by migrant workers in Qatar. They also want to see their national associations take a much firmer stance," the head of Amnesty International's Economic and Social Justice department, Steve Cockburn, said.

In May, Amnesty International published a report where it urged FIFA to match the $440 million World Cup prize money to launch a compensation program for "hundreds of thousands" of migrant workers whose labor was abused. According to the rights watchdog, migrant workers make up 95% of the total workforce in Qatar and are particularly vulnerable as the Gulf monarchy has lax labor laws and lacks trade unions. As a result, numerous cases of labor abuse, including excessive working hours and forced labor on projects related to the World Cup, went under the radar.

FIFA World Cup will take place from November 21 to December 18 in Doha.