Possible positive impact of Qatar WC

World labor organizations have gotten the attention of mass media... and pressure is being put forth for Qatar to abolish migrant worker policy and other labor law abuses. If Qatar doesn't address this, FIFA is going to have a hard time resisting the pressure of taking the WC away from Qatar.

It's a regional problem that also exists in the far east and India. Basically, it's slavery. No other way to describe it. But i think it's a travesty that the same pressure wasn't applied on China for the Olympics. Not that it should stop pressure and sanctions from being applied in this case... evil is evil. The world shouldn't tolerate this type of thing and, if something can be used to cure the evil, then it should be used.

You are 100% right.

And I say this before the "politics don't belong in football"-crowd steps in.

FIFA doesn't give a shit because they get to organize a tax free event.

I've completely lost faith in FIFA when I discovered the demands they placed upon the Dutch goverment if Holland applied for the WC.

The world cup has turned into an event that's hosted by a country that gives the most benefit/profit to FIFA.

sportsczy, or anyone else could you care to shed some light on some of the details regarding the migrant worker and labor policies mentioned?

I've completely lost faith in FIFA when I discovered the demands they placed upon the Dutch goverment if Holland applied for the WC.

...which are?

lenear1030 wrote:sportsczy, or anyone else could you care to shed some light on some of the details regarding the migrant worker and labor policies mentioned?

Here's an example: An Indian labor agency hires a person to go work in Qatar at a certain wage. Once that person arrives in Qatar, he realizes that his wage is not enough to cover his cost of living. But since he signed a labor contract, he's not allowed to leave the country until the contract is over because that's considered a debt. The company in Qatar lends this person the money to cover his basic cost of living (horrible conditions. We're talking slums). But the thing is... this person will never be able to repay the debt since his wages don't cover the cost on a monthly basis. This equals slavery.

What's worse, a lot of these people aren't allowed to do anything but work or stay in the "towns" where they live.

It happens all across the region. It's not a middle eastern issue only though. It happens regularly in places like China and India. When you hear of a labor strike in China that turns deadly... this is what they're talking about. A group of migrant workers have had enough and try to break out of the system. But they are systematically beaten down or killed.

In Africa, Chinese companies are able to underbid everyone else because they bring their own labor and materials. Well... the labor is free. Makes the cost go down.

lenear1030 wrote:sportsczy, or anyone else could you care to shed some light on some of the details regarding the migrant worker and labor policies mentioned?

this is in UAE but it's basically the same in Qatar