A brief overview of what football recently said about the human rights situation in Qatar. Gianni Infantino, the president of the world federation Fifa, persistently declares that there has been “progress” on the subject. For FC Bayern, the recently retired CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge announced that Qatar had “come a long way”. And the attitude of the German Football Association is documented, for example, in a contribution by interim boss Peter Peters in the Hessischer Rundfunk: “Things have to change and they change”, and people are happy to discuss whether enough changes have been made.
In any case, something is progressing, that is the tenor of football in the year before the World Cup in the desert state, which is controversial for many reasons. How uncomfortable for football that the analyzes of human rights activists are completely different.
Amnesty International has just completed the latest “Reality Check” on the situation of migrant workers in the emirate, and the core findings of the report are striking: It comes to the conclusion that “Progress stagnated in 2021 and old abusive practices have even resurfaced,” it says. The controversial and allegedly dismantled Kafala system would be strengthened, “massive exploitation” would continue. That is why there is a clear demand on the Qatari government and Fifa to act soon.
That is a remarkable assessment. Since the scandalous award of the tournament in December 2010, there have been countless reports, documentations and appeals on the situation of the workers, and in recent years many critical observers had seen cause for cautious optimism. This has been particularly true since Qatar signed an agreement with the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2017. There are reforms that are inadequately implemented, was the reading that was often expressed. When it comes to criticism, the representatives of the Emirates traditionally point out that they are setting “new standards for the region” and “improving the lives of millions of people”.
Amnesty’s assessment is based on four developments in particular
But the fact that Amnesty is now even talking of stagnation and the return of abusive practices after evaluating the latest developments, discussions with those affected and an inspection trip to Qatar in October should re-ignite the debate. The assessment is based on four developments in particular.
The two main points of criticism of the Kafala system have been implemented in theory, namely the ability to travel freely and change jobs. But especially when changing jobs, things actually look different. This requires a clearance certificate, and for this, in turn, employers sometimes demanded a fee of several thousand dollars, that is, a multiple of the usual wage; the legal possibilities to take action against it are limited.
The issue of remuneration is also very difficult. Although there is now a minimum wage (of 230 euros per month), according to the Amnesty findings, wage theft continues to occur. Here, too, workers find it difficult to take action, and there is too little support. In addition, there is still no guaranteed right to be able to organize in a union. And finally, there is still no well-founded explanation of the causes of the many deaths on the World Cup construction sites.
Amnesty is calling for FIFA and the national associations to position themselves more clearly. The only question is what it should lead to if the development continues to be unsatisfactory. Amnesty is not in favor of a boycott. However, the organization robs football of an argument. Because the organization emphasizes that it is also not speaking out against a boycott – unlike what football representatives like to use as an argument. The boycott question is simply not their issue.