FIFA considers compensation fund for Qatar World Cup workers

Strasbourg, France - Soccer's ruling body FIFA is not ruling out setting up a compensation fund for workers who got injured or died at construction sites for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

Workers clean the stands in the Lusail Stadium, the 80,000-capacity venue outside of Qatar which will host the FIFA World Cup final in December.
Workers clean the stands in the Lusail Stadium, the 80,000-capacity venue outside of Qatar which will host the FIFA World Cup final in December.  © Collage: GABRIEL BOUYS & GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

FIFA deputy secretary general Alasdair Bell told the Council of Europe in a hearing on Thursday in Strasbourg it was "important to try to see that anyone who suffered injury as a consequence of working in the World Cup, that that is somehow redressed."

He added "this is something that we’re interested in progressing" but he also said that such a compensation fund was "not the simplest thing" to implement because it required thorough consideration and a clear structure.

Human rights organizations have called for significant compensation for workers killed, injured, or deprived of their fair wages during the construction of World Cup stadiums in Qatar, as well as their families.

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Large World Cup sponsors, including AB InBev/Budweiser, Adidas, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s, have stated their support for such financial compensation.

Hosts Qatar have been criticized for years over the treatment of migrant workers in the country. Qatar has dismissed some of the criticism and says it has carried out reforms, but human rights groups say that more must be done.

The World Cup is scheduled for November 20-December 18, with plenty more allegations being hurled at the host country for its human rights abuses.

Cover photo: Collage: GABRIEL BOUYS & GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

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