The tragic death of Filipino migrant employee Alex, whose last call is unknown, at a World Cup site in Qatar deserves to have been treated humanely. But FIFA and the Qatari government have repeatedly responded to media questions about his death, highlighting his death toll on thousands of migrant workers in the years leading up to the tour.
The Athletic reported that Alex died after a fall on the site of his structure, a FIFA educational base. Qatar World Cup chief executive Nasser al-Khater responded: “We have a successful World Cup. And this [the death of a migrant worker] is anything you need to communicate now? FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura distanced herself from a reporter and said: “I think we are here for the conference. . . If it’s anything else, I’m sorry. . . I don’t think it’s suitable. “
The responses from FIFA and the Qatari government illustrate their entities’ commitment to the lives of migrant workers, the repeated obscuration of key facts and the failure to protect migrant workers. Qatar’s Supreme Committee was quick to deny that death. it was within his jurisdiction, although at the time of his death, Alex was repairing FIFA’s infrastructure.
Al-Khater added that “death is an herbal component of life, whether in paintings or while you sleep. “that many of those deaths were preventable.
Instead, the government has attributed those uninvestigated deaths to “natural causes” or “cardiac arrest. “This leaves many immigrant employee families without the right to reimbursement under Qatar’s hard work laws.
While the government says it is investigating Alex’s death and is in contact with his family, many families told Human Rights Watch that neither the employer nor the government even bothered to tell them that their loved ones had died.
Qatar and FIFA have undoubtedly learned now that the world watches more than games and sees the officials cheeky by the migrant staff who built the infrastructure that made this World Cup possible. Instead of trying to deflect criticism, Qatar and FIFA deserve to correct those mistakes. through the compensation of migrant staff and their families.