MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2023) The Norwegian Football Association (NFF) called on the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) to provide a report on its work to tackle human rights abuses, including during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to a letter revealed by BBC journalist Dan Roan on Thursday.
The FIFA council agreed to put the issue on the agenda of the 73rd Congress of the organization, which will be held on March 16 in Rwanda, Roan said.
"The Norwegian Football Association requests from FIFA a commitment to assess whether it has fulfilled its responsibility to remedy related to the 2022 World Cup, including an investigation into World Cup-related deaths and injuries, and if not, how this responsibility can be fulfilled. The Norwegian Football Association also requests that FIFA commit to ensuring that remedy is a key aspect of its human rights strategy and implementation plan for all future tournaments," the NFF wrote in a letter to FIFA.
While the NFF recognized the progress made by FIFA on improving labor standards, it said that remedies in football are not yet up to international standards.
"The Norwegian Football Association is aware that Qatar established its own compensation fund in 2018 and that since it became operational in 2020 this has largely been used to reimburse unpaid wages. However, the Norwegian Football Association knows that currently, this is neither accessible to workers who have left the country nor able to support families of workers who have died because those deaths were not investigated," the letter read.
In 2018, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued a decree on the creation of a fund to support migrant workers following criticism of the country's treatment of foreign labor.
In November 2022, the International Labour Organization said in its report that 50 workers had died in Qatar in 2020 and another 500 people were seriously injured, but the real numbers may be higher.
In 2021, a number of national federations called on FIFA to put pressure on the Qatari authorities to improve the situation of migrants working on the construction of World Cup facilities in the country. In April 2022, the tournament's organizers admitted violations of working conditions at three companies involved in preparations for the World Cup. In May, the Amnesty International human rights organization sent a letter to FIFA head Gianni Infantino demanding compensation of $440 million be paid to the migrant workers. The UEFA Human Rights Working Group said in November that Qatari authorities had paid more than $350 million in compensation to migrants engaged in the construction of the tournament's facilities.
