ESix months after the World Cup final in Qatar, Amnesty International is calling on the International Football Association (FIFA) to compensate migrant workers who were employed by the Teyseer company during the tournament. Accordingly, “hundreds of employees complain” that it is impossible to obtain compensation because they had to leave Qatar.
While the Qatari company denies wrongdoing, Amnesty cites workers who were forced to work 12 hour days and sometimes up to 38 days at a time during the three-month contract. In addition, many employees would have had to pay a “service fee” of up to $700 (540 euros) in order to be hired. In some cases, a third of their earnings had been eaten up. The staff worked at the Khalifa International Stadium, the “FIFA Fan Zone” and other locations in Doha.
Upon request, FIFA said it had investigated the matter after Amnesty pointed it out. Compensation is a matter for the World Cup Organizing Committee and the Qatari authorities. But one should not lose sight of “the big picture”: World Cup personnel were granted increased protection and the World Cup was a “catalyst for reforms”: “There is no doubt that there has been significant progress.”
In order to be able to sue for outstanding wages in Qatar, the plaintiff must be in the country. In January, shortly before their contracts expired, Teyseer employees protested, after which they were promised vague compensation but at the same time threatened with “measures” if they did not leave the country. Amnesty sees the cases as “part of a pattern that has existed since the 2010 host election”.