Protest against bad human rights situation
Dutch sponsors are not traveling to Qatar for the World Cup
Germany’s Antonio Rüdiger handles Holland attacker Memphis Depay in their recent clash in Amsterdam at the end of March. In the background you can see the perimeter advertising of the Dutch bank ING, the main sponsor of Elftal.
© John Thys / AFP
Some sponsors supporting the Dutch national team will not travel to Qatar for the World Cup. Meanwhile, World Cup organizers admit exploitation of workers.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch recently found that the situation for migrant workers on construction sites in Qatar remains poor, even if there has been little progress. The human rights situation is also the reason why several sponsors of the Dutch national football team will not travel to the World Cup. A spokesman for the major bank ING, main sponsor of Oranje, confirmed a corresponding report in the daily newspaper De Telegraaf on Thursday. “The human rights situation in Qatar is the reason why we will not do anything at this tournament,” said the spokesman. According to the newspaper, other sponsors such as telecom provider KPN, the supermarket chain Albert Heijn or the Dutch Lottery are also not traveling to the World Cup and would not order tickets for their business contacts either.
ING also does not want to advertise around the World Cup, which takes place from November 21st to December 18th in the desert state. The sponsor wants to concentrate on supporting the Oranje women this year. It is still unclear to what extent the other sponsors will also not run any advertising campaigns.
World Cup organizers admit to exploitation – a little
Meanwhile, Qatar World Cup organizers have admitted the exploitation of workers at at least two football tournaments. According to a statement by the World Cup organizing committee, three companies did not comply with the rules in several areas. These violations were “absolutely unacceptable”. The human rights organization had previously published a report accusing private security companies in Qatar of exploiting migrant workers.
Amnesty said on Wednesday they were exposed to “serious human rights violations” that “sometimes corresponded to forced labour”. Workers would have had to do work against their will and under threat of punishment. “Some of them had to work up to 84 hours a week – and with the knowledge of the Qatari government,” criticized the human rights organization.
Violations at three companies
According to World Cup organizers, violations occurred at the three companies during the 2020 Club World Cup, which Bayern Munich won at the time, and the 2021 Arabian Cup. These had “resulted in a range of measures including the placing of contractors on watch lists or blacklists to prevent them from working on future projects – including the Fifa World Cup – before those contractors were reported to the Department of Labor for further investigation and penalties.” . The organizing committee is doing everything to protect the workers.