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For months, the teenagers have been at the mercy of their employers, Stark Security, who provided manpower during the World Cup as well as the 2021 Arab Cup. They stood at Stadium 974 where Brazil danced their way past South Korea and Lionel Messi and Argentina defeated Poland 2-0 on the way to their coronation. But, while they guarded stadiums and other World Cup hubs, including the main media centre, David and Paul were never a true part of the glitz and glamour that Qatar presented to the world during the four-week sporting extravaganza.

Their families sold their properties for the pair to pay their way to Qatar, where they, from the moment of their arrival with promised jobs that never materialised, encountered a world of abuse and hardship. The World Cup brought renewed hope working for Stark Security, a Lusail-based company with 2000-plus personnel that lists ‘accountability’ as one of its core values online – but not toward its own employees. David, Paul and other security guards went unpaid for their World Cup work. They slept in Al Shahaniya before Stark Security moved them to Barwa Al Bahara, another notorious labour camp...