Qatar World Cup 2022: Fifa ‘must deliver on Qatar human rights promises’ – Norwegian football chief

Fifa “has a responsibility to deliver the legacy it said it would” on human rights in Qatar following the 2022 World Cup but “is not there yet”, according to Norwegian football chief Lise Klaveness.

Speaking from Doha, she told BBC Sport that the World Cup “really pushed some very progressive changes” over the treatment of migrant workers, but also said she had identified a “struggle with implementation” of reforms.

And on the issue of gay rights in Qatar, where same-sex relationships are illegal, Klaveness said “matters are still as sensitive, as controversial, and have not moved at all”.

The former Norway international said she had returned to Qatar, where she met with workers, the authorities and NGO representatives, a year on from the tournament in order “to learn, because we think these issues will come up again and again”.

“We want to follow up on the promises Fifa made, and football’s responsibility on human rights policy,” she added.

“For now, we see that Fifa has not really leaned in and engaged in really walking the walk on lifting human rights [to being a prerequisite for hosting] World Cups.”

In response, Fifa said its human rights and social responsibility sub-committee is carrying out an independent assessment on whether the steps the body has taken so far are “in line” with its human rights responsibilities, and whether additional steps would be recommended “in view of further strengthening the tournament’s legacy for migrant workers”.

“International experts and trade union representatives who have assessed and collaborated in the labour rights programme for Fifa World Cup workers have repeatedly recognised that major steps forward have occurred in the labour rights sphere,” said a Fifa spokesperson.

“According to the International Labour Organisation, Qatar’s labour reforms have been significant and benefitted hundreds of thousands of workers with the World Cup being an important catalyst for these reforms.

“It is undeniable that significant progress has taken place, and it is equally clear that the enforcement of such transformative reforms takes time and that heightened efforts are needed to ensure the reforms benefit all workers in the country.”

The Qatar World Cup organisers have been approached for comment.

‘Progressive forces’

Last year, Klaveness was critical of the decision to award the flagship event to Qatar, referring to “unacceptable consequences”.

That followed years of controversy over the human cost of building the infrastructure required for the tournament in the Gulf state’s extreme summer heat, and its discriminatory laws.

Qatar had introduced labour reforms from 2017, with more protection for workers, a minimum wage, and the dismantling of the controversial ‘kafala’ sponsorship system, but there have been long-standing concerns over implementation.

“Our assessment is that some changes have been made, particularly to heat protection and workers’ ability to organise,” said Klaveness, who praised “progressive forces” among the Qatari authorities.

“But the kafala system – even though it’s dismantled on paper – people [still] experience their passport being taken away [by employers], and the tradition where employers demand the prior employer release you before you can change work,” Klaveness added.

“Very progressive legislation has happened – much more than the rest of the region – but when you meet workers on the ground here you very clearly see that the implementation has issues on central elements that do not change.

“We met two workers that hadn’t got their wages. It’s always a danger when the pace [of reform] was so high in the years leading up to the World Cup, that the pace will slow down.”

Despite generating a record £6bn from the World Cup, Fifa resisted calls from campaigners and some European football federations for a compensation fund for the families of workers who had died.

It instead set up a ‘legacy fund’ directed at education, while the World Cup’s chief executive was criticised during the tournament for saying “death is a natural part of life” in response to a question about the death of a migrant worker.

Amid calls for the creation of a Migrant Worker Centre in Doha, Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced plans for a permanent office for the International Labour Organization – a UN agency.

The governing body is now conducting an independent assessment on “whether additional steps would be recommended in view of further strengthening the tournament’s legacy for migrant workers”.

“Fifa said it would assess whether human rights were breached at this World Cup and how to remedy it, and equally importantly how these human rights should be implemented going ahead,” said Klaveness.

“We expect that they really lean into these issues, and that Fifa in that report really addresses [them] going ahead.

“Gianni Infantino said that there would be some sort of hub here in Qatar where workers could go to know their rights. Let’s see if the report addresses this. We cannot really see signs of it yet.

“The Supreme Committee did a lot of very important work to drive change [but] now they will be closed down because they were a World Cup body.

“It is important that Fifa and football delivers on the promises we made. We’re not yet there.

“We can never repeat this history. It’s Fifa’s responsibility to have bidding processes where the risks are assessed by independent bodies, and where the hosts have to show how they mitigate these risks before it’s awarded.”

In a recent report, Amnesty International said “inaction” by Qatar and Fifa on workers’ rights was “tainting the legacy” of the World Cup, and that progress had “largely stalled”.

However, Qatar’s government responded by insisting the World Cup “accelerated labour reforms, creating a significant and lasting tournament legacy”.

It claimed it now leads the region on workers’ rights, referencing the introduction of a minimum wage, the removal of barriers to change jobs, a simplified complaints mechanism, stricter enforcement, including a crackdown on the payment of illegal recruitment fees, and increased awareness of workers’ rights.

Fifa said it was “undeniable that significant progress has taken place”, but accepted “heightened efforts are needed to ensure the reforms benefit all workers in the country”.

The 2034 World Cup is set to be staged in neighbouring Saudi Arabia despite long-standing concerns from campaign groups over its poor human rights record. Klaveness has been critical of the Fifa process which resulted in the Gulf kingdom emerging as the sole bidder for the tournament.

Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, said in September that he “does not care” about accusations the country is “sportswashing” – investing in sport and using high-profile events to improve its international reputation.

In August, Saudi border guards were accused in a report by Human Rights Watch of the mass killing of migrants along the Yemeni border. Saudi Arabia has previously rejected allegations of systematic killings.

Some LGBT fans boycotted Qatar 2022 over its treatment of gay people, where homosexuality is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Organisers stated that everyone was welcome, claiming no-one would be discriminated against.

“The LGBTQ matter is also an important matter to us because all fans should be free and safe in World Cups. And what we clearly see is that matters are still as sensitive,” said Klaveness.

“So, we need a ‘toolbox’ to address this issue.

“We cannot be [told] that addressing legal safety for LGBTQ people is controversial, and seen as populist politics. These are practical issues – we need better mechanisms going ahead.”

Additional reporting by Nesta McGregor.