The head of Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee has come under fire for comments about the death of a Filipino migrant employee at an educational site during the tournament.
Nasser Al Khater, chief executive of the 2022 World Cup in Doha, told Reuters one had died, but gave no further details. He offered his condolences to the man’s family but ignored other questions from reporters.
“Death is an herbal component of life, whether it’s in paintings or while you sleep,” Khater said. “We are in the middle of a World Cup, and we have a successful World Cup. And that’s all you need to communicate. “
Qatar’s solution of migrant staff came under scrutiny in the run-up to the World Cup, with human rights teams accusing the Gulf state of systematic labour abuses – fees rejected by the government.
Human Rights Watch condemned Khater’s comments, showed “total contempt” for the deceased worker.
“Khater’s claim that deaths occur and that it is herbal ignores the fact that many deaths of migrant employees were preventable,” Rothna Begum, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told CBC News on aArray.
Online sports publication The Athletic reported Wednesday that the man worked for a company tasked with repairing lighting fixtures in a parking lot at Sealine Resort, the educational site of the Saudi national team. His head is opposed to concrete.
Citing several anonymous sources, he said the twist of fate happened at the World Cup, but did not specify when.
Qatari officials showed they had launched a security investigation.
“If the investigation concludes that security protocols were followed, the company will face legal action and severe monetary sanctions,” a Qatari government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
“The rate of work-related injuries has decreased in Qatar since strict protection and fitness criteria were introduced and enforcement strengthened,” he said.
The Philippine Foreign Ministry said in a statement that one of its citizens was killed while running in a hotel south of the capital, Doha. He said his embassy was “working with the judicial government to obtain more important points about his death. “
In a statement, FIFA said it was “deeply saddened” by the news of the worker’s death.
“As soon as FIFA reported the accident, we contacted the local government to request further details. FIFA may make additional comments once the relevant processes related to the worker’s death are completed,” a spokesperson told CBC. News.
Since gaining the rights to host the World Cup in 2010, Qatar has come under scrutiny for its remedy of migrant workers, who make up the majority of its population.
The tournament, the first to be held in the Middle East where other countries have also been criticized for the rights of migrant workers, was embroiled in controversy. Women’s rights.
Qatar’s World Cup organizers, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said they were not involved in Qatar’s investigation because “the deceased [worked] as a contractor, and not under the duty of the SC. “
The number of work-related deaths in Qatar is disputed.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported last year that at least 6,500 migrant employees — many of them working on World Cup projects — had died in Qatar since 2010, according to its estimates in official documents.
In response, Qatar said the number of deaths was proportional to the length of the migrant workforce and included many white-collar workers, adding that each and every life lost a tragedy. The SC said 3 work-related and 37 non-work-related deaths. related deaths occurred in projects related to the World Cup.
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