adidas response to call from family of detained whistleblower in Qatar to intervene in case
In response to the following questions from the Resource Centre, adidas provided a statement:
- Whether the company has already engaged on this case with FIFA, given its direct business relationship with the Supreme Committee? Including:
- When this communication/s occurred?
- What form the engagement took?
- Whether the company intends to re/engage FIFA on this case, in light of the Working Group’s opinion published in March 2024?
- Whether this case has had or is having any bearing on the company’s future sponsorship agreement(s) with FIFA?
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Mr. Ibhais first reached out to adidas, along with other FIFA Sponsors, in September 2021.
At the time, we explained that we held no relationship with his employer, i.e. the Supreme Committee, and it was mutually agreed that he should raise his complaint directly with FIFA using their World Cup 2022 grievance mechanism, which he did.
FIFA followed up and engaged with Supreme Committee and the Qatari government, as the legal proceedings continued.
Mr. Ibhais’ family kept us abreast of his legal case, which went through several rounds of appeal until reaching the Court of Cassation, Qatar’s apex appellant body. On appeal, Mr. Ibhais received a reduced prison sentence, but the court did not overturn his conviction.
His family also kindly shared with us the recent opinion of UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has challenged the legality of this conviction and requested that the Qatari government immediately remedy the situation.
On our part we have raise this case with FIFA, to understand what steps they can take and how best we can support their follow-up actions.
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