We forget that different parts of the world progress at different rates. A lot of the objections to Qatar would have applied equally to England in 1966. eg homosexuality was a criminal offence, immigrant workers were badly treated, construction sites were deathtraps. Allowing countries like Qatar to win prestige sporting events and then monitor their progress is one of the best ways to encourage them to catch up.
I can't go along with that, sorry. I've worked in major construction for 7 years (ending in 44 days! Yes! **** job!) and all these slavery issues, death trap sites, no water for worker problems are easily solved with money. Money is something Qatar have a lot of. It stinks of elitism, profiteering, nepotism and generally not giving a **** about the little people. They could easily employ project, site and construction managers from the UK and adopt our practices.
Absolutely agrre but they probably will improve practices now that the people in charge see they are all over the world's press for not doing it.
How is it encouraging them though? We didn't legalise homosexuality because we held a World Cup. Just because it used to happen doesn't mean it's acceptable now. The fact is that football fans and players will be discriminated against by hosting it there and that should automatically rule out a tournament. If they get their act together then by all means reward them with a World Cup.
I agree in principle but pragmatically the best way to change anything is to raise its profile. No-one would have been monitoring the treatment of Nepalese workers in Qatar if it hadn't been awarded the World Cup.
Given the Olympic bid said it would be staged for less than £3bn, and ended up costing closer to £10bn, England is quite good at pissing away large amounts of money to stage a summer sporting event.
the latest scandal to hit the world cup is that fifa have been advised now that qatar is 6-7 hours by plane from europe.
I see, reading An article in today's Times, that this disgraceful farce continues to worsen. The migrant workers, described by the International Labour Organisation, as modern day slave labour, are currently dropping dead at the rate of one a day. These migrant workers, largely from Nepal have had there wages withheld to force them to stay. Worse still, they have had their passports confiscated, so they cannot leave even if they had the funds to do so. The conditions are reported to be scorching and most of the deaths are attributed to heart attacks brought on by heat exhaustion. All this is taking place at The Lusail City Development where the final is scheduled to take place. At the current rate of deaths, thousands will die before 2022. If FIFA lacks the balls to admit that they have made a mistake and to bring this scandalous farce to an end, then the major international teams should do so by telling FIFA that they will boycott these finals.
You think the workers will be treated better if FIFA pull out? It's only because of the World Cup that anyone knows about this.
I don't think you understand, these workers are there because of the building for the World Cup, not despite it. People are dying unnecessarily, in their hundreds now, FIFA can surely ignore this no longer.
Having lived in the middle east (UAE) for a brief yet long enough period to observe, the news of slave workers in neighbouring Qatar does not surprise me in the slightest (I went there too briefly). Back in the late nineties, apartment buildings and commercial towers were going up at breathtaking speed at the expense of worker safety and building regulations; no matter what. I would see Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani workers out all day in 40ºC+ heat putting these buildings up and their working conditions were clearly impossible. These guys were paid peanuts and could barely afford a crappy bit of space on a floor in a shared apartment in Satwa, a district of Bur Dubai where they lived off cheap, ****ty food from a kiosk, which was basically a hole in the wall kitchen, serving food (if you can call it that) that would give anyone food poisoning and make you very, very ill. The attitude of the locals and the establishment towards these builders was appalling... they just saw them as dirt at the bottom of their shoes. They were slaves, shipped in to do a job. Nothing more, nothing less. FIFA would know full well who and how these stadiums would be built and funded. This kind of **** has been going on for years so that the big wigs can live their overly exuberant, opulent lifestyles at the expense of others. It's a disgrace. The best way to voice your opinion is to boycott the World Cup in 2020 and simply not go. Sepp Blatter and his cronies were bought and paid for to get the world cup to Qatar. Pure and simple. Just don't bother going to it. End of.
Like i said Blatter doesn't give a toss about the workers,, Just the thickness of the plain brown Envelope he will receive
Qatar have been exploiting and killing foreign workers for years. The whole place is being rebuilt and the World Cup is a drop in the bucket. But suddenly everyone knows and cares. How is that not a good thing?
I find your attitude to the suffering of these people cynical, to say the least, bordering on downright offensive!
I understand what you're saying, I too have spent time in the Middle East on business. I know what goes on there, it wasn't acceptable then, it isn't now. All that's happening at the moment is that these people are being used and abused in far greater numbers. FIFA, whether they are aware, or not, must be held to account for their actions.
nothing will change. they might introduce summer working regulations like theyve got in the uae, but these people are used to being treated like sh1t and they wouldnt know what to do if they were treated any different. tell them they could stay in 5 star hotels and theyd probably just say "oh no thank you, we will stay in the portcabin". that's just the way it is.
It's really not. I want a world where everyone is treated fairly but you don't get to that simply by wishing for nor by ignoring bad things that are going on. Everyone has been ignoring these practices in the gulf states for years. The World Cup has increased the level of scrutiny a lot which can only have good effects. The additional construction and associated exploitation of workers from the World Cup is very small but all workers in Qatar and probably Bahrain, Kuwait and the Emirates will benefit from the world's new found interest. If FIFA pulled out now, which they have every right to do, things might just revert to normal. If instead they use their influence to get the workers treated better it will be a great outcome
No, you're right. If we all take that attitude, nothing will ever change!..so let's all just ignore it and pretend it's not happening!...
I can't disagree that FIFA should do something to prevent these people from dying. As is easily calculated, if nothing is done, thousands will die unnecessarily. I accept that the qatari's don't give a flying toss, but he rest of us should. Again, if FIFA continues to do nothing! to pretend this is not happening, then the major int'l teams should threaten to withdraw. Unfortunately, Qater has oil & money, lots of money which seems to be FIFA 's god. If FIFA will do nothing to help these people, then somebody must. It's a disgrace that people should die in their hundreds and thousands when Qatar has more than enough resources to treat these people as human beings.
