Qatar: "Shameful" World Cup legacy fund fails to address loss for families whose loved ones died in preparation, say Amnesty Intl.
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Two years after the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Amnesty International has criticised as "shameful" a World Cup legacy fund made available by FIFA which the football governing body says will be invested in social programmes across regions, in collaboration with Qatar, the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, and the United Nations Refugee Agency.
FIFA has called the initiative "groundbreaking", while Amnesty International has said the legacy fund does not recognise FIFA's "clear responsibility" to remedy harms caused in preparation for the World Cup, particularly for estimates of thousands of migrant workers whose labour was exploited to build infrastructure needed for Qatar to host the tournament.
It is shameful that FIFA and Qatar have launched their long-awaited legacy fund without any recognition of their clear responsibility towards the vast number of migrant workers who were exploited and, in many cases, died to make the 2022 World Cup possible. While providing money to global efforts to support refugees and protect workers from the impacts of extreme heat is important, the fund currently does absolutely nothing for the families who lost loved ones in Qatar and were plunged into poverty as a result. In failing to provide funding to compensate workers and their families for the severe harms suffered in Qatar, FIFA is blatantly disregarding its own human rights policies and is likely to be ignoring the conclusions of its own commissioned report – which is yet to be published. As long as FIFA continues to bury its head in the sand, workers and their families will continue to suffer the consequences. After worldwide demands for compensation coming from fans, players, sponsors and football associations, this legacy fund cannot be the end of the story. FIFA must finally do the right thing and provide meaningful remedy for all whose rights were violated and abused as a result of its flagship tournament.Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport
Ahead of the World Cup, Amnesty International and a coalition of NGOs called on FIFA to remedy harms caused in preparation for the sporting event. FIFA did not respond to the BBC when presented with Amnesty International's criticism.