In Qatar, [USM] provide security, cleaning, waste management, landscaping and pest control. During the World Cup, USM Qatar provided housekeeping and cleaning staff at the InterContinental Doha Beach & Spa, Marsa Malaz Kempinski at The Pearl, a man made luxury island, and the St Regis. The InterContinental hosted Fifa staff while the latter two hotels served as the base camps of the teams of the  United States and the Netherlands. A source also claims USM Qatar also had staff at the team hotels of both Ghana and Costa Rica...

In collaboration with the ILO, US Soccer drew up a checklist focused on workers’ rights for vendors to comply with at the Kempinski. It included respect for the minimum wage, adequate accommodation in accordance with national laws and Supreme Committee requirements, a workplace health and safety policy, full access to passports for employees, limited working hours in accordance with new laws and policies on recruitment to reimburse fees paid...

[Marsa Malaz Kempinski compliance officer Lisa] Saad explains that when it comes to subcontractors “things get a little bit dicey when you get into worker welfare” but the hotel was among the highest ranked in the audit of the Supreme Committee for Legacy and Delivery. She would also monitor the score by external UK auditor Impactt...

... The KNVB [Netherlands Football Association] vowed to keep on fighting for worker rights after the World Cup. The Dutch FA will return to Doha in July to talk to the workers’ welfare committee at St Regis and share recommendations with Uefa. Saad, meanwhile, has left Qatar, but says that “Qatar is doing an amazing job with their labour reforms-”...

Anthony disagrees. After the accident, USM Qatar terminated Anthony’s contract. Having arrived in Doha in 2021 to work for USM Qatar and provide for his family back home, Anthony quickly got to experience USM’s insidious modus operandi. He had to cover his own health card, he worked 12-13 hours a day and wage deductions – in other words, wage theft – were almost the norm. This all came on top of the recruitment fee of 250,000 Kenyan shillings (6,564 Qatari riyals/1,675 euro) he had paid his agent back home. 

Whenever he raised problems and concerns with his employer, he received a warning letter accompanied by a fine of a minimum of 50 Qatari riyals (13,5 euro)...

Other workers at USM Qatar also detail a climate of repression and labour abuses by their employer...

Edward complains that USM Qatar constantly discredits workers by giving them warning letters so as to “tarnish their file.”...

Daniel from Kenya... has no income to buy food. Sleeping in a room with no electricity and thus relying on power banks, Daniel has been with USM for over two years. He paid his agent 120,000 Kenyan shillings (3140 Qatari riyals/804 euro) to come to Qatar. Working in delivery, he had an accident with a truck leading a court to fine him 8,000 Qatari riyals (2042 euro). Today, he cleans at a Monoprix supermarket in Doha. USM promised him to cover 3,000 Qatari riyals (766 euro) of the fine. They have withheld his salary for the last few months to pay off the other 5,000 Qatari riyals (1276 euro), compelling Daniel, on a salary of 1100 riyals (280 euros), to beg with friends for survival...

NB: USM Qatar, Kempinski, InterContinental, St Regis and US Soccer did not reply to a request for comment. 

NB: Fifa provided the following statement: 

Together with its counterparts in Qatar, FIFA started in 2019 to conduct a monitoring and inspection programme on a large set of hotels used for the FIFA World Cup by teams, staff, partners and fans. The programme included a total of 163 hotels, with the aim to ensure compliance with the SC’s Workers Welfare Standards for all of these hotels. The team base camps were all part of the programme. In addition, FIFA and the SC worked with external partners in this effort, including independent audits by the specialist social auditing firm Impactt Ltd and collaboration with the ILO on the establishment and operation of workers’ committees at the hotels...