Qatari authorities should immediately free a Jordanian former media manager for the 2022 men’s World Cup, Abdullah Ibhais, after a UN committee determined that he has been arbitrarily detained for nearly three years, FairSquare, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch said today.

Ibhais, a former media manager for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee, was arrested in 2019, months after voicing concerns over the treatment of migrant workers on World Cup construction projects. FIFA, the international football governing body, refused to publicly support calls for Ibhais to receive a fair trial after he said that he had been the subject of a malicious prosecution. He was arrested again in November 2021 and is serving a three-year sentence for bribery.

“FIFA washed its hands of Abdulla Ibhais a month before the Qatar World Cup despite clear evidence of a grossly unfair trial in a prosecution instigated by their Qatari partners,” said Nick McGeehan, co-director of FairSquare, which has followed the case from the beginning. “This highly authoritative decision should compel them to act and publicly call for him to be freed and allowed to return to his young family.”...

In an official decision made public earlier in July 2024, the UN Working Group published a 13-page opinion on the case. It concluded that there was no legal basis for his detention, that his deprivation of liberty resulted from his exercise of his rights and that there were multiple violations of his right to a fair trial, which included refusing to investigate his allegations of a coerced confession, denying him legal assistance, and denying him the right to access evidence...

The UN determination aligns with reporting by FairSquare, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International that the case raised grave concerns.

Ibhais, a father of two boys, is due for release in October 2024, but because the court also imposed a fine alongside his custodial sentence, this could be extended to April 2025 if he cannot pay the fine...