World Cup 2022: Qatar

[Tomaszk]

9 hours ago, VillaChris said:

In other news....looks like I'll be wrong as Qatar looks like it's developing a pretty good national team. They reached Asian Cup final today (beat UAE 4-0 and will play Japan) which is big achievement for them.

Thought they'd be worst performing modern WC hosts and half their team would be South Americans.

Think they did it by getting a load of uncapped South Americans to come and live there few years ago. Young/old, just good at football.

[Stevo985]

Let's just say when I've been seeing their results in the Asian Cup I've been suspicious every time.

[Zatman]

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

Let's just say when I've been seeing their results in the Asian Cup I've been suspicious every time.

Well nothing suspicious about UAE game since both countries hating each other these days and was more than just a game

[sne]

Just now, Zatman said:

Well nothing suspicious about UAE game since both countries hating each other these days and was more than just a game

And the game being played in the UAE.

In this particular tournament it's actually the UAE who's been gifted pens and stuff by the ref.

Really thought this would be the case in this game to.

Hope ref has protection for him and his family. Qatar players were pelted with bottles and shoes by the home crowd after the 3rd goal.

[HanoiVillan]

What can go wrong, hosting an international football tournament in a country being blockaded by its neighbour. 

Edited January 31, 2019 by HanoiVillan

[Zatman]

Asian Cup winners. 2022 victory is next after Copa America

[villa89]

What's the death toll up to? Still on course for 4,000? 

Quote

The 2022 World Cup, which will be held in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar, is more than eight years away. But it is already making a lot of news—and not the sort of news the oil-rich nation hoped to make when it landed the tournament. 

https://newrepublic.com/article/117818/qatar-2022-world-cup-pace-kill-4000-migrant-workers-says-espn

[BOF]

Well I said I won't be watching it, and if anything I'm even more determined now than I was then.

[Villaphan04]

Didn't watch most of the Asian Cup, but pretty intrigued by the way Qatar pretty much steamrolled thru it. Will be interesting to see how their squad does in the Copa America this summer. 

Just reading a bit into their ASPIRE academy and have been pretty impressed with that (But that's a whole different story). 

 

[sne]

Gifted a dodgy pen after VAR review to seal the game.

I wonder how much money Felix Sanchez (their manager) who' took over this team when they were a P-14 team (9 or 10 years ago) will get in bonus for winning this title?

[sne]

Quote

DOHA.

What is the history of the Qatar World Cup?

That's the fight for death figures.

Some say that thousands of workers died in the World Cup preparations.

Others mean that there are only three.

It depends - of course - on how to count.

But behind the death figures there is also another story.

The sports magazine went to Qatar to report stubborn international labor, a regime forced to reform and secret union activists.

Damn what he got shit , Kim Källström. That many thought he deserved it after his quotes about the World Cup in Qatar 2022 is no wonder. Why lend its name to a non-democracy that constructed a kind of apartheid system where just under two million migrant workers from the third-world working class live a completely different life than the over 300,000 Qatarians bathing in money? A country where homosexuality is illegal and human rights something you can shrug your shoulders on when the spirit falls on. It was, of course, rare by Källström. 
Later, the old national hero admitted that he had been "client-friendly" in his statements. Källström claimed that he tried most to find out that there had been some improvements in Qatar that he had never heard reported in Sweden.
Is it true? And if so - what are the improvements?

▪▪ One thing has shaped the outside world view of Qatar's organizational structure more than anything else. The ITUC, the International Trade Union Confederation, published a report on Qatar in 2014. " The case against Qatar " painted a frightening future scenario about the World Cup preparations in the country. The report began with a comment signed by Secretary General Sharan Burrow. " Qatar is a country without conscience, " she wrote, and then methodically went through the many faults and deficiencies of the state. The Kafala system, which is similar to a modern slavery where workers must not keep their passports and thus cannot leave the country when they want, the wretched wages that are often lower than what the workers are promised, the horrible living environments in huge labor camps and the fact that unions are illegal.

But what really struck down as a bomb in the international press was the following sentence: " 4000 workers can die before the first kickoff during the World Cup 2022 ".

4000!

The ITUC had produced the figures by letting the Indian and Nepalese embassies, the countries with the highest number of guest workers in Qatar, account for how many citizens of the two nations die each year in the country. Then the number was multiplied by the number of years remaining to the World Cup 2022. At that time, ITUC already emphasized that all deaths in Qatar - whether they occurred at a workplace or not - were included in the report. Thus, also deaths of natural causes, car accidents outside working hours, heart attacks or diseases. "The very root cause is regardless of the same - the working conditions, " wrote ITUC.

The hypothetical death figures got huge spread, but have occasionally been used a little carelessly. Sometimes one can read that several thousand workers died in connection with the actual building of the arena, other times it is a more general figure over the number of migrant workers who have passed away in Qatar in recent years.

Regardless, the report got the desired effect. It influenced the World Cup organizer on just the skin. Damaged its international reputation in a virtually irreparable way.

The death figures - especially for the construction of the World Cup arenas - have since been such a sensitive subject that Qatar has had to act in different ways. The rocky pressure from the outside world has led to promised reforms. 
The most important grip on the regime: in rhetoric and action, to divide the country's workers into two different categories. World Cup workers and, yes ... the rest. Of the 1.7 million migrant workers, around 30,000 work on building eight new World Cup arenas. 
30,000 World Cup workers from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines mean everything in a propaganda perspective.

▪▪ - Here they leave their clothes and get everything washed free. To the right are all our football and basketball courts. Here they have access to free wifi and computers. There, they get free food three times a day. Here we have the gym - very well equipped!

For just over an hour, I and Picture Agency photographer Niklas Larsson are guided through Challenger City. An area where there are homes for 6,000 workers attached to the construction of World Cup venues. The streets are clean and the lawns are lush green. A South African man who works for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, ie the state authority responsible for the World Cup event in Qatar and which we will only call the Supreme Committee in the future, manages the tour together with the head of the entire complex. It happens to be a woman, which the World Cup organizer proudly points out several times. At one point, she names the place as a "camp", which the South African does not appreciate.

- We call it accommodation, right?

Challenger City is an upgraded accommodation that the World Cup organizer gladly boasts about. It takes almost 10 minutes for our guide to just go through how nutritious the food is served - "not so much fat" - and how carefully they handle the hygiene of the industrial kitchen.

- Here are the workers' own hairdressing salon. There they cut subsidized. And come in here. It is a place where the workers can take it easy, relax and call home to their families, says the South African, showing off a huge hall with sofas, ping pong tables and pool tables.

The whole thing is built up as a summer camp for workers who struggle to build World Cup venues 8-10 hours a day. 1,000 of the 6,000 workers do not work specifically with arenas, which is a way for the regime to show that it is not just the World Cup workers who have access to Challenger City. Of course one gets quickly suspicious. Qatar has over the years been notorious for overcrowded, unhygienic workhouses of inhuman standards where illnesses have buried. Can't the more than 30,000 World Cup workers live in relatively reasonable conditions as in Challenger City?

We take in an objective assessor to determine that matter. South Korean man Jin Sook Lee from the global construction union, BWI, has been working in Qatar for several years and believes that in fact it seems to be the case.

- Challenger City is one of the best accommodations. But the fact is that all accommodations that are under the Supreme Committe are very good. Everyone follows their standard. I have visited almost all the homes that have to do with the World Cup and although many are quite boring places in the middle of nowhere they keep good standards.

It is a pretty nice accommodation, but after some hour it feels nauseating that those responsible for the plant almost brag about things that in my world should be self-evident when flying into migrant workers from other parts of the world. Here everyone has access to their passports, here all their salaries get on time, here the employee pays the recruitment fee for their workers (who thus do not have to spend much of their pay on paying off a debt), here "only" four people in each room instead of eight, here you get free laundry, nutritious food and internet access. The World Cup organizer is proud of the fact that they can guarantee this type of "benefits".

But Jin Sook Lee, a hardened union fighter, still sees the point in showing off the positive developments.

- They'll be proud of this. They have actually succeeded well with this specific thing. This was a country where beforehand there was no kind of standard at all for workers. But ... the case is also that all migrant workers in Qatar should have access to the same standard.

We will return to it.

The great advantage of staying in Challenger City from the point of view of migrant workers is the possibility of saving more money. 2017, after major pressure from international trade union organizations, Qatar launched for the first time a comprehensive minimum wage for all workers. The basic salary differs depending on the nationality the worker has - we also return to it - but on average it is 750 Qatar riyal a month. It is just under 1900 Swedish kronor a month. It is of course very little money made sure that Qatar is one of the world's richest countries. Thus, the more privileged World Cup workers normally do not have higher salaries than other migrant workers in the country, but the fact that they can eat, wash and surf for free at Challenger City means that they can put aside a much larger part of their salary.

That tells Mohammad Rubel, 24, from Bangladesh and Dilip Kumar, 30, from India when we meet a bunch of workers inside a great conference room. Me and Niklas are served ice-cold water but the six men in front of us are left out. Everyone is employed at the construction of the Al Rayyan World Cup. The situation is unpleasant. The workers have been selected by those who control Challenger City and then it is of course not the most critical voices that emerge.

- This is better here than elsewhere, says Mohammed Rubel.

He is an energetic young man with friendly eyes.

- In India I earn 12-13,000 Indian rupees a month, but have to pay for my living and food myself. Here I earn 20,000 rupees (with overtime) and do not have to pay for anything.

Mohammed says he would definitely recommend a job as a World Cup worker for his compatriots. They work six days a week and fly to their home countries once a year. But I cannot claim that there will be any further flow in the thriving conversation that is more developed into a questioning where I try to find cracks in the facade rather than a regular interview. But they simply have nothing negative to say about their time in the country except that they sometimes feel worried about their finances. It would be easy to brand this as a propaganda, but it certainly gets the impression that many of the World Cup workers at Challenger City are happy with the accommodation.

I end the conversation with a question.

If I, who comes from Sweden in northern Europe, came to you and asked, "How is Qatar?". What would you say then?

- Qatar is better. It's better. If I compare with other countries I know. It's better.

▪▪ Lusail is said to be the ultimate example of Qatar's pride. In the middle of the desert, Lusail Stadium is being built which will be painted in gold color and make room for 80,000 spectators. But Lusail is not just the final arena for the World Cup 2022 but will be a brand new, shimmering city north of Doha. On the way there, however, only a quarter-hour drive from the capital, one realizes that Lusail will mostly be a kind of exclusive suburb of Doha. At the moment, the entire area is a sandy blow hole with hundreds of construction sites for hotels, roads and a new subway. The half-finished Lusail Stadium's enormous concrete foundation towers on the horizon. It is one of a total of eight new World Cup arenas and the bill for the entire collection is expected to be around SEK 60 billion, according to the BBC.

Here, 3,000–4,000 World Cup workers work, but the one who decides is called Tamim El Abed. An engineer who was born in England by Palestinian parents, but who lived in Qatar since childhood. He knows Östersund's Hosam Aiesh, a Swedish palestine who has recently been removed from Janne Andersson's national team and you quickly understand that he has the same iron collar on the smallest detail concerning the arena. El Abed is painful and athletic even though he is approaching middle age and has mainly worked in the state oil and natural gas sector, which is the source of Qatar's prosperity. He calls Lusail Stadium the most complex building he has ever been responsible for, and during our tour, he counts up hundreds of facts and small problems that tumble around in his overworked brain.

- It's nice that I can finally show the drawings of the arena and talk openly about how it should look. I haven't even been able to talk about the details with my wife before, he says and laughs.

Initially, the idea was that the World Cup would be settled in the 50-degree heat that usually plagues Qatar during the summer months, but Fifa realized the problem and moved the championship to the winter. Then there is a pleasant Swedish high summer heat in this region.

- But we have built cooling mechanisms inside the arena, just as we said we should. Down by the plan, we can ensure that the temperature is always comfortable 25 degrees.

Supreme Committe has hired companies from Qatar and China to build the Lusail Stadium. The massive industrial steel comes from China and Turkey and the workers from all over Asia. It is teeming with construction workers in blue overalls and the work is going on around the clock in different shifts. It is a **** sludge when concrete and steel are to be joined together into one unit.

- Maximum working time is 10 hours per day. Eight hours is normal, then you can work two hours of paid overtime.

The international trade union movement claims that virtually all guest workers in Qatar work at least 10 hours a day because the extra income is worth more than any leisure time. Over the years, the country has received stinging criticism for guest workers being used ruthlessly even during the summer, but in the Supreme Committees standard for VM workers there are detailed safety regulations that regulate the work in the extreme heat.

How do you handle the heat in the summer?

- All countries have their challenges when it comes to construction jobs. In Sweden, the workers have to take breaks to avoid frost damage and for severe cold. Then they go into barracks to warm themselves and get something hot to drink. Here we handle the heat in the same way.

Nobody works in the middle of the day when it is hottest in the World Cup venues, according to El Abed.

- During the summer, we lose a lot of working time due to the heat and the regulations surrounding it, but rather that people suffer and feel bad.

The arena feels tight and tight. The stands are wonderfully steep in an inviting way.

- Fifa is extremely careful that all 80,000 places must have an unbroken view down to the plan.

So how many workers have died since the final arena started in April 2017?

Not a single, according to El Abed.

- We've had injuries. Serious injuries are considered as such when the worker cannot return to work in 72 hours. We have also had a lot of situations that could have led to serious events, but where no one was hurt. It is also reported.

Not a single death in the construction of the final arena, that is. It is of course impossible for a Swedish reporter to visit Qatar to check if it really is true - it may be swept away dead bodies every week secretly - but the feelingis that it may well be true. The international union contacts that the Sportbladet has been in contact with see another side of the coin, which we will return to, but also have no reason to doubt this specific task. Perhaps the most important reason for the improvements is that Qatar has suddenly become a haunting country that is passionate about workers' rights, but because, because of the heavy pressure of the international trade union movement and human rights organizations, they have realized the propaganda value of keeping the number of deaths in the arenas in one. low.

- The Supreme Committe set the standard at the very highest level. There are tough demands on health and safety that all companies that want a World Cup contract must follow.

At the same time, there are concerns about how the safety of the arena buildings will be managed when the press and the stress increase closer to the World Cup.

How does safety work on the floor?

- This is a physically tough job. Security is a challenge. Many workers do the same thing day in and day out on the building and then one can become a little blasé or blurred. Just like when people drive the same road to work every day. But one must never forget that there are risks at all times in a large workplace.

- It needs to be accurate at micro level. Every hour to ensure that the standard is implemented. To constantly look for problems that can be fixed. The Supreme Committe also looks to the companies to report that it looks good. Sometimes they do not get the payment if they do not care.

El Abed believes that the World Cup standard has meant a shift in perspectives.

- In the past, the security work was handled in the wrong way. If something went wrong in the workplace and it became an accident then it was always assumed that the problem was due to someone from the floor. "It must be the fault of that individual worker," as well. Now we have developed and you are checking from the top down. In almost 100% of cases when something goes wrong, we assume that the shortcomings come from the managers or even higher up in the organization.

When can this "World Cup Standard" apply to all Qatar workers?

- It is about the heritage of the championship. We want to raise the entire industry standard. We hope that for the companies that work in Qatar, the Supreme Committees standard will be inscribed in their own policies in the future. After the tournament, we hope that the entire construction industry has changed. But the Supreme Committe and the Qatar government can't do everything. It is also required that companies in the country steep up.

This point of voice often returns during Sportbladet's visit to the country. That the international and local business community in Qatar must adhere to the Supreme Committees standard to make it better for all workers in the future. As a Swedish one immediately thinks: "this is a non-democracy, in practice a dictatorship, so it is well for the fan just to snap on his fingers and demand improvements?". But the more time you spend in Qatar, it appears that the country is not entirely controlled by the emir and his family, but equally equally by a chaotic unbridled hypercapitalism which is not always easy to observe or control.

Many in Sweden believe that hundreds or thousands of workers died in connection with the World Cup buildings.

- In the beginning we tried to resist all the time. Turn back towards the details. But then we understood that it was only a constant uphill. That it was more important to work actively with health and safety at workplaces. To let our actions stand for themselves. That's the best answer.

 

▪▪ We were actually in place in Qatar and Doha to watch the football team's January camp in the country. It was just a quick walk from the sumptuous Sheraton, where the players lived, and Al Bidda Tower, where the Supreme Committe belongs. A glossy skyscraper of 43 floors in the heart of the part of the capital that is most late-capitalistly bland. Doha's wicked skyline screams out that this is a state that wants to portray itself as a state-of-the-art and successful, but aesthetics already feel strangely outdated. As picked up from an 80s movie that takes place in Manhattan.

The World Cup organization is cosmopolitan and highly educated people from all over the world flow in and out through the security check to the building. It is the Supreme Committe who arranged our visits to both Challenger City and the final arena and now the Sportbladet will interview the very driven Mahmoud Qutub. He is an American in his 40s with Palestinian riot work for the Qatari state for many years. Qutub has a kind of Ivy League brilliance over them and is rap in as well thought and speech. I immediately feel inferior to my rusty school English. Qutub is responsible for the Workers Welfare Forum. It is the sub-organization of the Supreme Committe that is responsible for the 30,000 World Cup workers being able to live decent lives in Qatar.

- If they do not follow the rules, they first receive a warning. The next step is that they must not work in the country. Some are trying to cheat, but we always catch them in the end, says Qutub, mentioning that the Supreme Committe is constantly inspecting workplaces and housing.

He talks about all the great progress that Qatar has taken in recent years regarding improved working conditions. That the infamous Kafala system, which takes away workers' freedom and the opportunity to change employers or leave the country when they themselves want, is being dismantled. That workers who have been forced to borrow big money in their home country and have been put in debt just to have the opportunity to work in Qatar will now be replaced. However, it is still only a small minority of the nearly two million migrant workers who have received help so far.

- 120 companies have agreed to pay out $ 22 million to 31,000 workers, of whom 16,500 are not World Cup workers.

- It has not been fair that workers have been forced to work in Qatar to pay only a loan shark in Nepal or India.

After just over half an hour of conversation, it is still time to raise the most burning issue. I tell you that many in Sweden have the picture that hundreds or thousands of people died in connection with the World Cup buildings in Qatar. Qutub, who is used to the question, nods slowly before answering.

- They believe it because the ITUC made such a statement that they later took back. General Secretary Sharron Burrow said that 4,000 workers will die in Qatar because of the World Cup. But in December 2018, she said that Qatar has become a model for the rest of the Gulf states to follow in terms of workers' rights. She went from organizing a campaign that went out to the "No World Cup in Qatar" to welcome all supporters to Qatar 2022. One of our hardest critics ever has become one of our allies because she's seen our progress.

Then Qutub returns to the death figures.

- That report caused us great damage. That's how it is. But there is no truth in it. It is false and based on a weak methodology, he says and addresses the report's approach that you read about at the beginning of this report.

It is clear that Qatar feels unfairly treated by the outside world in terms of deaths related to the World Cup buildings. In front of the World Cup in Russia, 21 workers died, 7 workers died in front of the World Cup in Brazil, 60 workers died before the winter Olympics in Sochi, zero workers died before the summer Olympics and so on. In the previous cases, statistics have been based specifically on World Cup workers, while the data on thousands of deaths in Qatar have applied to all migrant workers throughout the country.

How many World Cup workers have died in the workplaces in Qatar, according to the Supreme Committe?

Three.

- We have unfortunately had three deaths on our buildings and we have reported on all cases, says Qutub and thus specifically refers to arena builders before continuing:

- We also report on all the World Cup workers who die even if it is not linked to the work. We really don't have to. But we have nothing to hide. We welcome everyone here to come and look for. The death figures thrown around ... there is no logic behind.

In addition to the three dead in connection with the arena buildings, 22 World Cup workers have died for non-work-related reasons, Qutub says.

- It's a high figure. But these are things we cannot control. It's about heart attacks, infections and similar things.

International unions and humanitarian organizations, however, have long been suspicious of the many "non-work-related" deaths that occur in the country and link many of the heart attacks to an unhealthy working environment with long passages in high temperatures.

- We do medical examinations for all our World Cup workers. Many had never done a survey before coming to Qatar. But all our 30,000 workers will receive a total medical examination. So far, 7,000 have done so, but in April 2020 it will apply to everyone. It is simply the right thing to do. The worker must know what problem he has, and we must understand how to solve it.

After having heard the Qutub's story of all the work that is laid down by the Supreme Committe, much of which seems to be based on a sincere desire to do good, it starts to feel like the right place to pick up the elephant in the room.

The workers who build the road to the arena or the hotels that the supporters should live on are also part of the VM infrastructure. Is it really possible to separate the workers who build the World Cup arenas from the other migrant workers in the country?

- I understand what you mean. You mean direct World Cup work and indirect World Cup work. I wish we had responsibility for everyone ... but we have no responsibility for all workers. We do not have that scope. But we can influence the other sectors.

A critical person would argue that dividing workers into two categories is a right cynical trick.

- I understand. Of course, all workers should have the same.

Is it really realistic that it will be so?

- To 100 percent.

Qutub also says that there is not so much difference in the conditions between World Cup workers and ordinary workers, but hopes and believes that other parts of Qatar will hook up to the "World Cup standard" in the future.

- All workers deserve the same standard and should be treated equally. There should be no difference.

Qutub has all conceivable statistics on death rates, heart attacks and work-related injuries for World Cup workers, but cannot answer similar questions at all when it comes to "the other" migrant workers, the devastating majority of all living in Qatar but not falling under the Supreme Committees relatively strong safety net.

How many of the migrant workers in Qatar, who are not counted as World Cup workers, die every year in the country?

- I don't have those numbers. Actually, I haven't.

Much more than that, the Supreme Committe and Qutub cannot comment on the majority of the migrant workers in Qatar. They are responsible for "their" more than 30,000 World Cup workers. They reiterate, however, that the goal of the World Cup is that these reforms and improvements should spread so that all Qatar's workers should be able to take part of them.

- The country was already heading for the right direction and the World Cup has helped us further along the way. Many people wonder why it does not go faster. Faster than this? It can hardly go faster.

Qatar has been evacuating from the community on the Arabian Peninsula for a couple of years and is suffering from a commercial blockade staged by the neighbors of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. There are various explanations for the conflict, but basically most people can agree that it is a struggle for political and economic domination over the region. The former little brother Qatar, whose ambition is to some extent appear to be more "liberal" than his neighbors, has grown big with the arrangement of the World Cup in football, his internationally recognized TV channel Al Jazeera and the fact that they have natural gas instead of oil. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cannot accept that the force relations have shifted. The important tourist flow from the neighboring countries has stopped altogether, which negatively affected the hotels, shopping centers and the taxi industry in Qatar. The fact that the diplomatic crisis - which has become a regular information war - is a sensitive subject is also noticed during the Sportbladet's meeting with Qutub. He is annoyed by the fact that Westerners are happy to travel to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, but at the same time, Qatar criticizes the fact that, according to his way of looking at it, it is moving faster in one place. It is very important for the country's representatives to find out in international media that Qatar is more progressive.

Fixed ... I don't think Swedes can generally separate Qatar from the United Arab Emirates or other Gulf states. Maybe it's about ignorance about the region?

- Well, there is a big difference in approach. Nevertheless, we in Qatar, which according to ITUC, are an example of how the gulf states should act in labor law matters. No other gulf state has succeeded in doing so. It will take ages before the others (United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia) are even close to doing the same thing we did. We are miles ahead!

Then it is like Qutub comes to himself. He pauses and then ends the reasoning.

- Although we do not implement all these reforms in order to compete with the other countries. Absolutely not. We do this for the sake of the workers.

The workers yes. Qutub often talks about the workers as a passive group that either benefits or disadvantages. They are not their own power to fight for a change in Qatar themselves.

Do you think it is important for workers to organize themselves?

- What do you mean by "organizing themselves"?

To go together union and fight for better wages in a negotiation with the employer, for example.

- It is important. It is crucial. I am from the United States, my dad was a trade unionist. I understand why unions are important. But here in Qatar it's not legal. Therefore, it does not exist.

For a long time, that fact made Qatar an impossible partner for the international unions. In fact, for many years they were not even allowed to negotiate or converse with the regime, as it did not recognize trade unions as a legitimate party. For a few years, however, the press from outside was too harsh and Qatar was forced to act. The compromise for the regime was to construct what is commonly referred to as "yellow" unions. A yellow union is governed by the employer or the state and not an independent part of the labor market. Thus, it becomes a discussion club - without the opportunity to strike or other combat measures - rather than a regular struggle between two very different interests. In Qatar they are called "the workers' welfare forum".

In many homes there are bulletin boards with pictures and contact details for the workers' representatives. At first, the employer chose the representatives, but after pressure from international unions, the regime realized that the workers themselves had to vote. The workers' welfare forum has meant some type of voice for the migrant workers, although it cannot be equated at all with a trade union.

- We have spent a lot of time and money on it. People vote for their representatives. In 2016 we had 13 of these and now it is 112. From the beginning it was about issues concerning, type, food and wifi. Nowadays, it is also about wages and the kind of heavier issues that the workers raise. This indicates that they have started to gain confidence.

How important is it to cooperate with the international unions?

- It is important. Because we can't do everything about everything down here. We want to use experts, especially those who want to help us in a meaningful way. We are constantly criticized. But there are those who criticize and want to help us get better, but then there are those who criticize without trying to find a solution to the problems. I have sat down with everyone and said: "If you want to criticize - tell us how to solve things and do it better. Help us!"

▪▪ What does Sharan Burrow, the general secretary of ITUC, say, say the international trade union organization, which called Qatar " a country without conscience ", about the developments that Mahmoud Qutub and the World Cup organizer are telling. Have there been so great improvements in the country regarding the conditions of the migrant workers? First she returns to how the situation was a few years ago.

" In 2014, migrant workers could not leave the country without the permission of their employer. The terrible system imprisoned workers in the country to employers who exploited them. If you wanted to complain to your employer, you had to go through the legal system and it took months, which cost workers time and There was no minimum wage and workers were paid according to their nationality, it was modern slavery for their two million migrant workers, "writes Burrow in an email to Sportbladet.

But Burrow argues that ITUC, unions, the United Nations ILO (International Labor Organization) and regular football supporters also created such strong pressure against Qatar that the regime was forced into major reforms involving both World Cup workers and the majority of migrant workers. Progress has been made regarding the dissolution of the Kafala system, that the minimum wage is statutory and is about to be increased, and workers' opportunities to organize themselves at the workplace, ”says Burrow.

e that covers all workers in the country should put a stop to workers earning different amounts of money depending on nationality.

However, the ITUC Secretary General is disappointed that the reforms have been delayed, but believes that it is primarily Fifa's fault.

" Throughout our campaign, Fifa has kept to the sidelines. These reforms could have been implemented several years ago if Fifa only saw to it that the dissolution of the Kafala system was a requirement to even arrange the championship ".

On the whole, Burrow is positive about the reforms launched by Qatar.

"The Qatar government is now showing a leadership that the other Gulf states should pursue for all countries should cease the systematic exploitation of migrant workers and make improvements in labor law as Qatar does now ".

How does she see the death figures? It was ITUC that 2014 reported that 4000 migrant workers could die in Qatar before the World Cup was kicked off. Burrow does not back off the original calculation, which Qatar called both false and untrue, but believes that the reforms actually made a big difference to safety and health (and thus deaths) in the workplaces.

" We stand by that figure, because it was well calculated on the basis of the analysis we made of Qatar's own statistics at the time. migrant worker ".

Simply put , as many as 4,000 workers could have died until the World Cup 2022 if everything remains as usual, but the reforms probably do not do so, according to ITUC, who do not want to comment on how many they believe have died during the World Cup work until now .

When it comes to death figures for what Qatar calls "World Cup workers", ITUC definitely does not buy the Supreme Committe's approach. The regime claims that three workers died in the arenas, but the ITUC thinks it is a wrong way to count on and does not accept that Qatar in its rhetoric tries to distinguish between "World Cup workers" and other migrant workers working in infrastructure.

"The Supreme Committe only counts the workers in the World Cup arenas, but everyone understands that the World Cup workplaces include all the infrastructure required for a World Cup. The roads, the railway, the metro, the hotels, the sewers are all necessary to be able to arrange the World Cup 2022. To take responsibility for the entire chain is crucial in order to be able to arrange a World Cup that respects human rights, "writes Burrow to Sportbladet.

The UN agency ILO, which works for social justice and humane working conditions in the world, looks favorably on the development in Qatar after being previously very critical. Nowadays, the ILO also has an office in Doha.

- It has been very good in Qatar with regard to labor law, although much remains to be done, says Houtan Homayounour, who heads the ILO's work in the country.

At the same time, it should be noted that the ILO and the ITUC were accused of being a little kindly inclined to the Qatar regime since the parties began negotiating. That they, once admitted to the heat a few years ago, did not want to risk the relationship with the regime. Amnesty has on several occasions highlighted statistics and reports which, admittedly, acknowledge that positive reforms have been promised and implemented, but that they do not yet cover all migrant workers in the country and that they are not implemented quickly enough. Many are concerned that reforms should be temporary and superficial rather than pervasive and long-term.

Houtan Homayounour from ILO is extremely cautious about commenting on death rates for migrant workers.

- Different organizations have used different numbers, with different sources. I can say with certainty that there has been no really good survey that has come to a credible answer. For Qatar, people are divided into two different camps. Either they like Qatar and support the country in everything, or they don't like Qatar and don't think anything can get better. It is more emotional than pragmatic.

What death figures do the ILO use?

- No. We have not taken part of any study, or seen any study where there has been a methodology that we wanted to use. We can therefore not use any numbers and I would personally not use any of those who spin around, says Homayounour and continues:

- In any case, it is not a thousand and a thousand workers who die in Qatar. We should know that in ILO, because we have been here for a while. But the death rates usually reported are clearly exaggerated.

Homayounour concludes the discussion:

- The lack of credible statistics is one of the ILO's greatest challenges.

When Qatar launched its World Cup application, there were 30,000 hotel rooms in Qatar. According to the New York Times, Fifa's rules stipulate that there must be at least 125,000 such for the 1.5 million visitors during the World Cup 2022. This is just one example of the huge investment in infrastructure currently under way in the country. For the trade unions operating in Qatar, it is quite obvious that one cannot conclude that only the over 30,000 workers who build football stadiums should be termed "World Cup workers". They cannot accept that the regime offers better conditions and housing for a minority of workers, but that the majority still live under worse conditions.

The Swedish trade union movement has long had a decisive influence on the pressure on Qatar. Many of the international trade union contacts that Sportbladet talked to pay tribute to Swedish lobbying.

- Byggnads and Elektrikerna from Sweden are some of the most important in the fight. Because in the beginning almost no one cared - Fifa did not even respond to our messages - and Qatar did not take us seriously. Swedish support has meant a lot, says Jin Sook Lee from the international building union, BWI.

Johan Lindholm, Chairman of Byggnads, has been down in Qatar several times and seen how workers are exploited. He buys that it has become much better for the workers in the World Cup arenas, but is still sacredly cursed about how other labor is often used in the country.

- When we were down there we quickly noticed that there is a facade that they want to show off to the outside world, but that it is not right. There are still many workers who are treated like animals, he says and continues:

- There have been improvements in the arena buildings. But the fact that you largely ignore the conditions for those who work in the large VM infrastructure is cynical.

Can one divide the workers in the way the regime wants?

- It's completely wrong. When we talk about around 1000 dead in Qatar since the VM project started, we are referring to reports concerning the VM infrastructure throughout the country. There are millions of migrant workers down there.

Lindholm and Byggnads thus use the figures that ITUC had produced in its hypothetical estimate, whose calculation shows that over 1000 workers in Qatar may have died for various reasons during the World Cup preparations up to now.

- For everything down there has to do with the World Cup. It will be a false picture if you talk about "World Cup workers" because it is a cynical game that I hope the football world will not be fooled by. Of course it has become better in the arenas - which we are happy about - and our pressure has worked. Positive things have happened in Qatar, which we have long thought not to be possible and that is positive.

The regime believes that the World Cup can be a catalyst for all migrant workers to benefit from the positive reforms. Is it a reasonable hope?

- You must never stop hoping. As the situation was before ... it was totally unacceptable. But now they have at least come so far that they recognize the problems. After all, one day after the World Cup, when the buildings are ready. What happens to all migrant workers then? It is important that unions, fans, national teams and sponsors continue to ensure that there is increased pressure in the country so that the positive development continues.

Swedish trade union movement has been a heavy player when it comes to putting pressure on the regime. Why has it been important?

- Because solidarity is not something out of fashion. It's more modern than ever. It's just so we can get a better world.

▪▪ There is a skew in the reporting on Qatar, which even this text is guilty of. When working conditions in the country are discussed, the parties heard are almost always the Qatari state or international organizations. If migrant workers are interviewed, they are in principle always victims who are told that everything is piss or passive recipients who have to comment on any positive reform - which in turn is determined above their heads.

But can a real and permanent change of Qatar come without a pressure from below? Is there a real organization among the workers on the floor?

Of course!

Many of the guest workers in Qatar come from countries such as India, Bangladesh and the Philippines where there is a lively and well-organized labor movement. Helpful forces put - in secret - The sports magazine in meeting with four workers who dared to become secret union activists in a country where trade unions are strictly prohibited. Who tries to exploit the state-controlled welfare forums in a way that advances the position of ordinary workers. These activists do not belong to the more privileged World Cup workers, but are ordinary construction workers who have knelt in Qatar for many years. Everyone sneaks to the regime's tactics to simply call those who build the arenas for World Cup workers, because it is clear to the men that much of the other infrastructure in the country has to do with the championship. All four ask for natural reasons to be anonymous, as the risk of retaliation is imminent and workers can be deported if they become involved in giving criticism in international media. Of course, they do not speak for all migrant workers in the country - and there are many who have worse experiences - but try to give their picture of the situation.

- First of all, we just want to fix one thing for you, starting the most talkative in the gang, which we can call Amit.

He is from India.

Go for it.

- In general, we are quite happy to be in Qatar. Overall, it's pretty good here. Particularly compared to how one has had it as a worker in companies in other Gulf states. Here, the food is also okay, and not always so expensive. So we want to be clear that it's pretty good.

The gang emphasizes that their lives are not a sneaky story to ponder on. Instead, they want to tell that things look brighter than long ago, even though much is still bad.

- It is thanks to BWI and ILO that people have begun listening to workers in Qatar. The international unions listen to us as the mother listens to her son. Therefore, much has happened in Qatar in recent years, Amit continues.

How was it before then?

- It wasn't good enough. The health and safety of the buildings did not work. People got to work even though it was far too hot outside (which can lead to a heart attack which is one of the most common causes of death among workers in Qatar) and almost everyone lived very badly. So ... it is not very good housing now, but it is better and better in many places. You have to stay in your own bed and don't have to sleep in tight bunk beds.

What would happen if the authorities knew that you organized your union?

- Of course they would not like if we in the form of a trade union talked about such things out in the street or in a park. Or if we had a demonstration. It's not legal. Of course, we must be secret. But we notice that some companies, who probably understand that some of us are trade unions, may be more open to being able to work more openly in the future.

- Even if you cannot call it a trade union, we work within the workers' welfare forum and in our community where we live, because you have to do that according to the law.

The World Cup will be played in Qatar 2022. What does it matter to you?

- We are happy about the World Cup. You still look forward to that. But we do so thanks to all the trade unions and international groups that help us. Since coming here you can call at twelve o'clock at night and get advice if you need it.

Qatar claims that there will be good conditions for all guest workers after the World Cup. Do you think so?

Here, Raj, an older companion to Amit, over. He is more experienced than the former and may not be as positive to the development.

- I think they can get some of the companies in Qatar to work further to improve the lives of their workers. But everyone? No I do not think so.

The gang has lots of stories about workers who have been treated badly and are hurting in Qatar. About employers who do not handle their commitments or pay out wages on time. About injured co-workers who do not receive any financial support when they are in hospital. About poor living environments that lead to diseases.

The trade union activities are often based on jointly raising money for peers in distress or their families. They often find that the Qatar state behaves more reasonably than some large corporations operating in the country.

- The managers have to pay! says Amit.

Is there a big difference in living conditions for the World Cup workers and other workers?

- It is a big difference. You have good and safe working conditions in the arenas, but those who build roads, hotels and other things have worse, says Raj and continues:

- They have much better accommodation and facilities. There may be eight in one room in a regular facility, but are only four in each room where the World Cup workers are. They also do not have to pay for their food. One problem for us others can often be that the supermarket that has the right to sell food at a plant takes far too high prices. Then you can't save any money at all! Unfair food prices are a big problem.

But basically, the facilities are not the biggest concern, according to these union activists. That's the wages.

- World Cup workers do not have higher wages. What should you do for a really good living if you don't make enough money? People get tears in their eyes when they think of wages because they don't get things to go around. We must get higher salaries, says Amit.

That workers are discriminated against depending on which country they come from makes the gang most upset. The minimum wages are stipulated on the basis of which bilateral agreements the Qatar regime has with the countries that send guest workers to Qatar.

- If you are Indian, you get 800 Qatar riyal a month. But if you are from Bangladesh you only get 600. At the same time, the Philippines can get another totally different amount. Although everyone works with the same thing! Clear discrimination, Raj says.

After an hour's discussion, I ask the men what issues are most important to solve in order to improve the workers' situation in Qatar. The gang quickly posts three points:

⁠ 1. Minimum wages:

- It's most important. Discrimination must stop and everyone should receive the same salary regardless of nationality. And higher wages.

⁠ 2. That companies keep their promises:

- We always complete our contracts. Then the employer must also do the same things. If you do not get the salary you have been promised you want to kill yourself. It is the workers who build Qatar. Once again - we like Qatar as a country - but they have to give back more to us. The money must be deposited on time at the bank.

⁠ 3. That Qatar legalizes trade unions:

- It must be legal. Then all positive development would go faster here. You have to be able to talk and negotiate with company management.

Amit summarizes:

- If Qatar does all this, you could compare this country with Europe. I know many who work and live there. Qatar must work with the unions in the same way. Then Qatar becomes Europe, I think.

▪▪ The conditions for the majority of migrant workers in the country are still poor. There is generally a legitimate disgust among Swedes that non-democracy Qatar - where workers die in their workplaces - should arrange the World Cup in just under four years. Sweden is simply a country that does not accept when capital's logic is put before human life.

Or?

In January 2019, nine people died in workplace accidents in our own country. This is the largest number of fatalities during the corresponding month in ten years. In 2018, 58 people died in Sweden at work. Is there a lot of space in the media? Was there any political party that raised this ever-ongoing tragedy in connection with all press conferences, deliberations and plays during the election campaign that took place from May 2018 to January 2019?

Can we target the same rightful rage against Sweden's death figures as we do against Qatars?

https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/a/vmREQ4/historien-om-vm--en-kamp-om-dodssiffrorna

[Villaphan04]

Well who would've thought of this.....

 

Quote

LONDON (AP) — A FIFA feasibility study concluded the 2022 World Cup can expand to 48 teams by using at least one of Qatar’s neighbors as an additional host, and found there is a low legal risk to changing the format and an additional $400 million in revenue could be generated.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the 81-page report on Monday that assesses the political, logistical and legal issues surrounding adding 16 teams — a significant change to the format more than eight years after Qatar won the hosting rights. The report was prepared by the governing body so its FIFA Council can agree in principle on expanding the tournament at a meeting in Miami on Friday. A final decision would come in June. 

The study identified stadiums in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that could be used but said Qatar would have to approve which nations it would partner with.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE severed economic, diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar in 2017, which prevents flights between the countries. The study says FIFA accepts that the ongoing political spat prevents their involvement in the tournament. The AP reported last week that FIFA was looking at Kuwait and Oman as options for games in 2022, given their neutrality in the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

“As it currently stands, the nature of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s relations with Qatar is such that it would be challenging to organize a co-hosted tournament between Qatar and one or more of these countries,” the feasibility study states.

“Candidate co-hosts would need to be regarded as sufficiently cooperative,” the study adds. “Such co-hosts would not sanction or boycott economically or otherwise any other potential co-host country, including the main host, Qatar.”

With logistics already challenged by the existing plan to play 64 games in eight stadiums spread over a 30-mile radius in Qatar, FIFA said two to four additional venues are required in the region “with one or more” nation.

FIFA stipulates that any additional hosts would have to supply government assurances, including on its human rights requirements.

“The involvement of additional neighboring host countries would require certain conditions to be met, in particular the consent of the relevant authorities in the main host country, Qatar,” the FIFA report states. “Therefore, FIFA cannot conclusively stipulate which host countries would be part of a co-hosting arrangement with FIFA and Qatar at this moment.”

The study highlights that venues with at least 40,000 seats — for games up to the quarterfinals — were demanded of 2026 World Cup bidders but doesn’t come to a conclusion on minimum capacities for 2022. While eight potential additional stadiums are identified in the region in the FIFA study, only two in the UAE, one in Saudi Arabia and one in Kuwait meet the 2026 requirements.

“Whilst a 10-stadium tournament could be considered in the event that up to six matches are played per day during the group stage and matches are held in the same venue on consecutive days, 12 stadiums would still be preferable,” the study says.

Since the contentious vote in 2010, which has been investigated for wrongdoing, FIFA has already had to change the schedule. The 2022 tournament was taken away from its usual June-July slot because of Qatar’s searing summer heat, despite resistance from European leagues whose seasons will be disrupted.

Spreading hosting beyond Qatar would also change the nature of what has been promoted as a compact World Cup that doesn’t require fans to take flights between matches.

The FIFA study found that, despite adding 16 games, the enlarged tournament could still be played in a 28-day window from Nov. 21-Dec. 18. FIFA said there would be “no major concessions to the sporting quality of the tournament” with expansion. While there were a maximum of four matches per day in the closing stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA said the 2022 tournament could feature six separate kickoff slots early in the tournament to cope with the additional teams.

“Implementing this format under the reduced tournament duration of 28 days would require some adjustments to aspects of the match schedule, such as the number of rest days for teams and venues,” the FIFA study states. “However, these adjustments are consistent with the principles observed at confederation competitions or in the top leagues around the world. Furthermore, based on its analysis, FIFA believes that the challenges can be sufficiently mitigated, including by increasing the number of venues and matches per day.”

The FIFA Congress has already agreed to expand to a 48-team tournament from the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The same format is proposed, starting with a group stage consisting of 16 groups of three teams, followed by a round of 32. That would ensure, despite adding 16 matches overall, a team would only play a maximum of seven matches like in the 32-team format.

But changing the hosting guidelines would alter the decision of the FIFA executive committee in December 2010, when Qatar surprisingly won the right to stage the Middle East’s first World Cup by beating opposition from the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

FIFA said while it cannot rule out legal action from losing bidders by changing the format, the study said it “concluded that the risk was low.”

“With regard to the previously administered bidding process, the process did not exclude joint bids and the possibility of co-hosting was an option for all bidders from the outset,” the study states. “Therefore, there is little risk arising from bidders (or even other member associations) claiming that they could have bid for the hosting rights had they known that FIFA would contemplate co-hosting scenarios.

“Moreover, based on FIFA’s analysis and previous legal analysis, there is little risk of claims by bidders due to the change in format.”

The study also breaks down how FIFA can earn an additional $400 million by adding more games.

It says $121.8 million could be generated from broadcasters, based on the unsold rights for the tournaments. It also forecasts an additional $158.4 million from sponsors, $89.9 million more from ticket sales, $20 million from hospitality packages and $10 million from licensing agreements.

FIFA wants its council to agree to the conclusion of the report that “expanding the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 to 48 teams is feasible provided that neighboring countries host some games.”

FIFA and Qatar would then submit a final proposal to the FIFA Council and FIFA Congress in June to make a final decision on expansion, stressing that Qatar is the “main host country.”

In April, FIFA President Gianni Infantino first said he was keen on fast-tracking World Cup expansion for the 2022 showpiece. Infantino, who succeeded Sepp Blatter as president in 2016, has held talks in the region, including with the emir of Qatar , about using additional countries.

https://apnews.com/421dca3cbf454bf191cfc3af9f4dc685

[Vive_La_Villa]

On 30/01/2019 at 08:27, Tomaszk said:

Think they did it by getting a load of uncapped South Americans to come and live there few years ago. Young/old, just good at football.

They must have also changed their names then because not many South American sounding players in the squad.

(Only just found out Qatar won and I’m in shock).

[VillaJ100]

44 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

They must have also changed their names then because not many South American sounding players in the squad.

(Only just found out Qatar won and I’m in shock).

If they converted to Islam they probably did. 

[Zatman]

Qatar set up an Aspire academy a few years ago and have sent a few young players to Europe to gain experience though not sure if many made the breakthrough. Think a team in Belgium is owned by the project

[MickeyC_UTV]

 

[sne]

The IAAF World Championships kicks off this week in Doha Qatar and the people working there will have strict dress codes.

Journalists working in and around the stadiums will not be allowed to wear shorts that end above the knees or tank tops.

Women will not be allowed to wear shorts at all or any revealing or tight fitting clothes. Long pants or skirts it is.

It is expected to be at least 40 degrees Celsius during the championships.

As for the athletes (women) they must be very cautious about what they wear when training or walking about. Guess they can't do much about what they wear during the competitions.

At least women will be allowed to move freely in the stadiums from what I gather 

[OutByEaster?]

Looking at the empty stands at the athletics world championships and remembering the eerie atmosphere of the UEFA cup final - it's hard not to feel that the world cup in Qatar could be anything but a huge success isn't it?

I hope we pull out.

 

[TheAuthority]

7 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I hope we pull out.

 

[TheAuthority]

I wish someone would just cancel this shit show and hold it in the summer in a proper country.

 

Quote

Draft plans have been shared between clubs outlining the Premier League schedule around the tournament, being held from 21 November to 18 December.

Fixtures could take place on 12 November and resume on 26 December, eight days after the final.

The season would also kick off one week earlier and finish a week later.

It means that there would be only six weekends without Premier League games.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50169337