In an effort to draw attention to the human rights situation in Qatar, England’s captain Harry Kane will wear an anti-discrimination armband during the World Cup.
It also works to make sure that migrant workers’ families receive compensation when their members pass away or suffer injuries while working on building projects. Furthermore, it insists that it will keep pressing the local organizing committee for guarantees that all spectators, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, would be welcomed, secure, and safe in Qatar.
In Qatar, where same-sex couples and the marketing of same-sex relationships are illegal, Kane will wear the OneLove armband together with the captains of the other seven World Cup nations: Wales, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Germany. In the Nations League game against Italy on Friday night, he will don the armband for the first time.
Kane declared, “We stand united against all forms of discrimination. As captains, we may be competing against one another on the field. At a time when the social divide is widespread, this is even more essential. When the world is watching, wearing the armband collectively in support of our teams will send a clear statement.”
Even though FIFA and the Qatari organizers assert that major adjustments have occurred since the World Cup was awarded in 2010, the subject of human rights in Qatar remains a cause for worry. This week, The Guardian brought attention to the fact that those working on World Cup-related projects get a basic salary of 1,000 riyals ($225), or roughly $1 per hour.
Security guards from countries including Kenya, Nepal, and Pakistan work 12-hour shifts for slightly more than £1 an hour at the souk outside England’s hotel and along the seafront promenade, where many supporters will assemble. They claim to work thirty days each month. One claims, “If I take a day off, they reduce my pay.”
The FA announced that a group of migrant workers had been invited to visit the players at England’s World Cup training site in al-Wakrah. Mark Bullingham, the organization’s chief executive, assured us that his group was also urging Fifa to provide an update on a compensation plan in Qatar and the establishment of a facility to facilitate the workers’ access to support.
Bullingham said: “Again, we are pushing FIFA for an update on the compensation fund which has been consistently referenced as a safety net where workers and their families have been unable to secure compensation from the construction companies.” Bullingham said the organisation “continues to push for the principle of compensation for the families of migrant workers who have lost their lives or have been injured in construction projects.”
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have urged Fifa to set aside $440 million (£388 million), which is equal to the prize money offered to World Cup-winning nations, to assist a compensation fund and aid in the establishment of a migrant workers centre.
The Director of key campaigns for Amnesty International UK, Felix Jakens, expressed general support for the FA’s announcements but urged FIFA and the Qatar organisers to take more concrete action.
The FA’s promise to support initiatives to address abuses faced by thousands of foreign workers in Qatar, including with a migrant workers’ centre, “could be significant,” he said. However, we still need to see whether this is seriously taken up either by the Qatari authorities or by FIFA.
Human rights concerns have complicated World Cup planning, and we’ve previously been let down by the FA’s years of hesitation and overly hopeful claims about Qatar’s ‘improvement.’
Qatar’s patchily enforced labor rules are still failing to solve issues like unexplained migrant worker deaths, workers being robbed of their wages, and others working incredibly long hours.
