Fifa urged to strengthen World Cup stadium workers’ rights
Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar was the first completed 2022 World Cup venue
Fifa has been urged to strengthen efforts to address risks to workers' rights on World Cup stadium construction sites in Russia and Qatar.
It is one of 33 recommendations in the first report of the governing body's new Human Rights Advisory Board.
The panel, including representatives from the UN, trade unions and sponsors, was created to provide independent advice on Fifa's responsibilities.
"Our first report sets a baseline," the advisory board said.
"We recognise that Fifa has taken important steps, particularly by adopting a new Human Rights Policy, fighting discrimination connected to matches and integrating human rights requirements into the 2026 Fifa World Cup bidding documents.
"We also make 33 detailed recommendations on issues Fifa should focus on, including, as a priority, building on what has been done to date by continuing to strengthen efforts to address risks to workers' rights on World Cup stadium construction sites in Russia and Qatar.
"We highlight the long-term commitment required from Fifa to build systems at the operational level that can proactively identify and respond to the most severe human rights risks."
Qatar progress being monitored Qatar has pledged to protect the rights of migrant workers
Fifa - along with other global sports institutions - has come under increasing pressure to make human rights more of a priority.
Last year it announced that for the first time it was organising a system, together with the Russian authorities, to monitor labour conditions at stadiums being built or renovated for the 2018 World Cup.
However, its effectiveness has been criticised by rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Meanwhile, Fifa president Gianni Infantino admitted in May there had been human rights abuses of North Korean workers involved in the construction of the Zenit Arena in St Petersburg.
In September, HWR warned that migrant construction workers in Qatar, including those building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup, were working in potentially life-threatening heat and humidity.
This week however, the International Labor Organization (ILO) ended a potential investigation of Qatar after it pledged to protect the rights of migrant workers.
Praising Qatar's commitment "to ensuring fundamental principles and rights at work for all workers and the resulting breakthrough to end the 'kafala' sponsorship system," the ILO's governing body said it would monitor progress for three years.
Qatar relies heavily on a workforce of about two million migrant workers from Asia to expand its infrastructure. The gas-rich emirate has committed tens of billions of dollars to construction of stadiums, hotels and transport projects linked to the 2022 World Cup.
"This report should be a wake-up call for Fifa, which has held back from using its considerable leverage with regard to Qatar's abusive sponsorship system" said James Lynch, Amnesty International's deputy director of global issues.
"This is Fifa's own independent human rights advisory board telling it to take a clear position on Qatar's laws, and to act on that. That work should start urgently - there can be no excuse for any lag."
Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura said: "This report shows that Fifa is making important progress in integrating respect for human rights throughout its wide range of activities."
"We are taking a pioneering role in that regard and feel privileged to be able to count on the outstanding support of the advisory board members. They validate the important progress that is taking place and challenge us where more is still to be done."
Source: bbc.com
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