As 32 teams gather in Qatar for this most troubling World Cup, the following figures are stark reminders of the human cost of the tournament, as well as the continuing suffering of migrant workers, women and the LGBTQ+ community in the country.
Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, wants us to focus only on football. Many will. But the impact of the World Cup should not just be measured in the tournament’s record or honor roll, but in the realities of everyday people’s lives. These are just some of the numbers putting Qatar’s new stadiums and the 22nd edition of the World Cup to shame:
Amount that Qatar would have spent preparing for the World Cup, compared to around $11 billion spent by Russia in 2018.
Number of human rights clauses or conditions regarding labor protections requested by Fifa from the Qatari authorities when granting hosting rights in 2010.
Official number of worker deaths in preparations for the 2022 World Cup, according to the Qataris and Infantino. Nicholas McGeehan of human rights organization Fair Square calls the figure a “deliberate attempt to mislead” as it focuses on projects which account for just 1% of construction in Qatar. The Supreme Committee says that 36 other workers at the stadium sites also died, but for “unworkable” reasons, meaning they died after a day’s work from “natural causes”.
“,”image”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/13fe42413e819fcefe460ac92e24955d42f3dcf6/0_132_6496_3898/6496.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=533ca84411fd0ca1cbe928d2b2946:photo credit:”Tomkins” “,”pillar”:2}”>
Quick Guide
Qatar: beyond football
Spectacle
It’s a World Cup like no other. For the past 12 years, the Guardian has reported on the issues surrounding Qatar 2022, from corruption and human rights abuses to the treatment of migrant workers and discriminatory laws. The best of our journalism is brought together on our dedicated site Qatar: Beyond Football homepage for those who want to delve deeper into issues beyond the field.
The exact number of migrant workers who died as a result of negligence in World Cup-related projects. The true number will never be known. According to Human Rights Watch, “the Qatari authorities have failed to investigate the causes of the deaths of thousands of migrant workers, many of whom are attributed to ‘natural causes'”. HRW also found that in such cases, families rarely receive death compensation because under Qatari labor law deaths not considered work-related are not entitled to compensation.
Migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka reported by the Guardian to have died in Qatar between 2010, when he won the tournament, and 2021.
Heat-related deaths of Nepali workers in Qatar, according to a 2019 study in the journal Cardiology that found a correlation, concluding that “up to 200 of 571 cardiovascular deaths [of Nepali workers] during the period 2009-2017 could have been avoided” thanks to effective heat protection measures. “We know that workers undergo medical assessments before leaving their home country and upon arrival,” says Isobel Archer, of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. “They are known to be fit and healthy, but we know that there have been so many deaths among previously fit and healthy young men on such a scale that it would be amazing in any other setting.”
Minimum figure for the number of migrant workers that Amnesty International considers to have been exploited and abused due to lax labor laws and insufficient access to justice in Qatar over the past 12 years.
Hours worked per day by many migrant workers in Qatar, especially in the domestic and security sectors, according to Amnesty. A recent report from Equidem found many similar stories, including a Kenyan worker who described 14-hour working days at Lusail Stadium without paid overtime for more than two years.
Minimum legal wage per month in Qatar (1,000 riyals), the equivalent of around £1 an hour, although food and accommodation are provided. In recent years, the authorities have introduced a number of labor reforms, including the introduction of a minimum wage and the abolition of the kafala, or sponsorship, system. However, human rights groups say it has been piecemeal and that many abuses are still taking place.
Range in dollars paid as recruitment fees by some migrant workers from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and elsewhere seeking work in Qatar. Although it is now illegal, many workers still struggle to repay their recruitment fees and associated debts, and to send money home to their families.
Ranking of Qatar, out of 180 countries, in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom ranking. This makes it one of the best countries in the region, but journalists have always been warned by human rights groups that they could face surveillance at the World Cup.
Years in prison that men and women who have sex outside marriage can incur under article 281 of the penal code. According to HRW, this disproportionately affects women, who are prosecuted if they report rape. He says that “police often do not believe women who report such violence, instead believing men who claim it was consensual, and any evidence or suggestion that a woman knew the male abuser was enough to prosecute the woman”.
Cases of ill-treatment in detention of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people between 2019 and 2022, according to an HRW report in October 2022. It said that forces from Qatar’s Preventive Security Department arbitrarily arrested LGBT people and subjected them to ill-treatment. – treatment in detention, including six cases of “violent and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022”. As a precondition for their release, security forces demanded that detained transgender women attend conversion therapy sessions at a government facility. According to the authorities, however, there are no gay “conversion” centers in Qatar.
Possible number of years of imprisonment under Article 296 of the Qatar Penal Code for “inciting, inciting or seducing a man in any way to commit sodomy or dissipation” and “inciting or seducing a man in any way to commit illegal or immoral acts”.
Amount Amnesty and others believe Fifa should make available to help compensate migrant workers who died or were injured in Qatar. This is the equivalent of the World Cup prize money. However, Qatar’s labor minister rejected the proposals, saying criticism of the government is seen as “racist”. The minister, Ali bin Samikh al-Marri, told AFP that there were “no criteria for establishing these funds”, and asked: “Where are the victims? Do you have the names of the victims? How can you get these numbers? »
#Stadiums #shame #numbers #World #Cup #hosts #Qatar #dont