The ugly game

Len McCluskey is spearheading the fight against the exploitation of migrant workers building Qatar’s football World Cup showpiece in 2022.

The Unite general secretary has secretly visited the workers in a labour camp outside the capital Doha to see for himself the shocking conditions there.

The Daily Mirror reports how McCluskey now plans to form a united front with MPs and campaigners to confront football bosses at FIFA after witnessing widespread abuse of migrants.

In the richest country in the world per head of population, blessed with vast supplies of oil and gas, migrant workers – many from South Asia – are forced to live in squalid, cramped condition.

Their passports have been taken away, their hours are long and wages far lower than agreed before arrival.

Two years ago the Mirror exposed how more than 1,200 workers had died in a construction boom, leading Qatar to announce reforms.

Roads, hotels, shopping malls and offices, including infrastructure linked to the 2022 World Cup, were a killing zone. Some workers reported that bosses were flouting laws that allow workers to take breaks in ­sweltering ­temperatures.

Living hell

“Football is a beautiful game turned ugly by the heart-breaking ill-treatment of wave after wave of workers lured to Qatar on false promises, then trapped in a living hell,” McCluskey told the Mirror.

“Wages agreed in advance aren’t paid and they’re packed into dirty, hot, crowded rooms, with the inadequate cooking and washing areas a severe health risk because they’re so dirty,” he said.

“Every football fan trade unionist and anybody who cares about decency must protest loudly because we can’t stand by and look the other way, letting these workers be tortured like this.

Shameful 

“They are forced to live in a dump but their spirit and pride isn’t broken. I wish I could make company bosses, Qatari rulers and the British ­ambassador see the grim reality. It’s shameful.”

McCluskey plans to build an alliance with the ­ Professional Footballers’ Association and supporters’ clubs to demand guarantees from the five candidates to succeed disgraced Sepp Blatter as FIFA boss.

The 250,000 Qatari nationals are vastly outnumbered by 1.8 million migrant workers flown in from India, Nepal, ­Pakistan, ­Bangladesh and the Philippines to work in the building and ­services industries.

But the Mirror found they were paid as little as ÂŁ120 a month for grafting six days a week.

The Qataris are keen to stress conditions are better on World Cup stadiums such as the showpiece Khalifa in Doha. But in Al Khor, home to thousands of migrant workers in other roles, conditions certainly haven’t improved two years on.

The dirty, sprawling complex houses 50,000 workers, packed eight or 10 to a room, with few facilities for washing, cleaning and cooking.

The doors on the toilets have no locks. Another camp has just one toilet for every 60 people, while a new ‘Labour City’ built for workers in Doha is said to resemble a prison with its towering perimeter walls.

Trade unions are banned in Qatar and bosses have huge control over workers who must secure permission to switch jobs or leave the kingdom.

McCluskey and two Labour MPs on the ­delegation – Ian Lavery and Naz Shan – met the British ­ambassador in Doha.

The Unite leader said the British Government felt the Qataris were “frightened” of unions but the ambassador expressed willingness to look at grievances.

Treated like animals

Lavery said, “These people are being treated like animals and the appalling wages and conditions trap them in a nightmare.

Fellow MP, Ms Shah, criticised the Pakistani and Bangladeshi governments for refusing to publish numbers of their nationals dying in Qatar.

“When national governments stand up for their people, the Qataris will be forced to treat them better. While they keep quiet, the Qataris aren’t going to change,” she said.

Are you a football lover outraged by the treatment of workers in Qatar? Join in the fight to support them through the campaign Red Card for FIFA.