FIFA urged to do more to end abusive practices in Qatari private security sector

Human rights campaigners have called on FIFA to prevent the “systematic and structural” abuse of Qatar’s private security workers ahead of this winter’s World Cup finals.

Amnesty International’s 74-page ‘They Think That We’re Machines’ report into the welfare of those employed in the notoriously perilous sector has uncovered abusive practices including overworking, lack of rest days, punitive fines and racial discrimination which the organisation claims amount to forced labour.

Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of economic and social justice, said: “With the World Cup just months away, FIFA must focus on doing more to prevent abuses in the inherently perilous private security sector, or see the tournament further marred by abuse.

“More broadly, FIFA must also use its leverage to pressure Qatar to better implement its reforms and enforce its laws.

“Time is fast running out – if better practices are not established now, abuses will continue long after fans have gone home.”

The study interviewed 34 migrant workers employed by eight different private security companies providing services for sites including government ministries and football stadiums, as well as other infrastructure projects essential for the World Cup, such as hotels, transport systems and sports facilities between April 2021 and February 2022.

At least three of the companies provided security for recent FIFA tournaments, among them the Club World Cup and the FIFA Arab Cup.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, many of them from Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh and Pakistan, flocked to Qatar after the Middle East state was awarded the 2022 World Cup finals with official figures in mid-2021 estimating the total at 2.1million and rising.

However,