‘FIFA pay $440m to Qatar’s abused migrant workers’

Rights group Amnesty International yesterday urged football's governing body FIFA pay compensation equal to the total 2022 World Cup prize money for migrant workers "abused" in host nation Qatar. The call, backed by other rights organisations and fan groups, follows allegations that FIFA was slow to safeguard against the exploitation of workers who flooded into the tiny Gulf state to build infrastructure in the years leading up to the tournament that starts November 21. "FIFA should earmark at least $440 million to provide remedy for the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have suffered human rights abuses in Qatar during preparations for the 2022 World Cup," Amnesty said in a statement accompanying a report. It alleged that a "litany of abuses" had taken place since 2010, the year FIFA awarded the 2022 tournament to Qatar "without requiring any improvement in labour protections". Amnesty said some abuses persist and described $440 million as the "minimum necessary" to cover compensation claims. The sum is roughly the total prize money for this year's World Cup.