The summer of 2014 was one of my most memorable summers; it was the summer of the World Cup in Brazil. For football fans and non-football fans alike, the excitement, passion and unity that comes with this season is incomparable. The cheering on the streets, the colourful flags and the chatter of bets in the air bring an inevitable sense of joy. It’s all the world can talk about for a month, and when it is over there is often a sense of emptiness in our hearts. Yes, the World Cup is an event we all look forward to, a time of heroes and glory. But the events leading up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the building controversy surrounding the plight of migrant workers have forced me to critically question the morals and ethics of the event we have all grown to love.
The migrant situation in the Gulf
Having lived in Oman, a neighbour of Qatar for the last six years, I witnessed the misery of the migrant workers day in and day out. These men from villages in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and such come to the Gulf region to find work. They are sponsored by large companies that promise contracts comprised of significant salaries and trips back to their countries. However, when these disillusioned men arrive in Oman, their passports are often taken away from them, they are sometimes denied their salaries and at times, they are not allowed to return home to see their families.
On top of that, they endure terrible living conditions, and on a visit once to a camp, I saw twelve men cramped in the same room, often without air conditioning and proper sanitary facilities. They also work in some of the hottest temperatures in the world, without proper safety precautions at dangerous construction sites. And above all, they are treated as sub-humans, and are subject to abuse. The issue of migrant workers’ rights has been ongoing in the region for many years. But this issue of the migrant workers deaths in building the World Cup stadiums in Qatar is relatively more recent, and honestly should have been put to a stop a long time ago.
The numbers involved
The 2014 statistics released by The Guardian show that since the start of the World Cup projects in Qatar, the death rate of Nepalese migrant workers is one every two days. This figure excludes the deaths of Indian and Bangladeshi workers, who would increase the death rate to most certainly more than one each day. This is utterly shocking, and completely unacceptable. These men are dying of heat exhaustion, cardiac arrest, all related to their inhumane working conditions, and the world is silently watching.
The Qatari government should be ashamed of itself, for refusing to ensure their workers’ health and safety, and for forcing men to literally work to their death. Not only do these poor workers suffer, but their families back home lose their main source of monetary income, and succumb to the unspeakable grief of losing their fathers, brothers, and sons. These heart-wrenching scenarios are the reality, but the Qatari government is not the only one to blame. I am actually more shocked at the reaction of FIFA, or rather their lack of reaction.
If only those with power would use it ethically
FIFA is a world-renowned organization, and with that title and fame also comes great responsibility and yet, it has failed to live up to this duty. The organization demolished any hope there still was of justice being served or for the advocates for human rights to be victorious. Despite the atrocious acts against humanity going on in Qatar, FIFA has granted them the opportunity to reap the rewards of being a World Cup host. People of all ages look up to FIFA, especially youth.
What is FIFA teaching them? That even though innocent men are dying from unacceptable human rights violations, we should still continue building flashy stadiums for rich and famous athletes, without any effort to compensate the migrant workers, or punish those who are exploiting them? FIFA is demonstrating to the world that in order to fulfill its own political motives, it is facilitating and choosing to ignore the deaths of underprivileged men whose dignity has been stripped from them.
It saddens me that an organization that has the power and influence to make a difference has chosen not to. I am angered when the lives of hundreds of Nepalese workers are deemed insignificant in light of the glorious World Cup, where there is more concern for the players playing in the heat than those who are dying building their battlefields.
Sportsmanship is not only about sports
The World Cup is meant to unite, to bring people together through a game we all love. But how can the world allow for ceremonies, games and victories to be held on the grounds stained with the blood and grief of silenced workers? How can we just forget the injustice and hypocrisy? Right now many are appalled by what is happening, but as the World Cup will come closer, and the excitement of the games will begin, many will forget the plight and inhumane treatment of the workers. I too, may fall prey to this. But I know that at the back of my mind, I will never forget that when the time came for FIFA to step up and take a stand for humanity, they chose not to take the shot.
