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Endemic corruption
The selection process has now been called into question by evidence of endemic corruption during the bidding process. As a result, it has been speculated that Qatar won the World Cup through bribery and by paying millions of dollars to members of FIFA’s executive committee ahead of the final vote. -
Protests
In Bahrain, the government has arrested and persecuted athletes who were involved in the peaceful 2011 protests. -
Crime
A football player who was arrested in 2012 for a crime he could not have committed. -
Abuses and human rights
Following increasing publicity of abuses and human rights violations directly linked to World Cup related building projects, Qatari authorities announced they would cooperate with the ILO on reforming the kafala system and labor laws. -
Labor rights
Among the concerns is the use of forced migrant labor. The International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Convention 29 defines forced labor as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.” -
Migrant workers exploited
The NGO urged FIFA to set up a compensation fund of at least 440 million dollars for the families of migrant workers exploited, injured or killed on construction sites in the emirate. -
Construction workers in the emirate
The NGO Amnesty International released a report on Thursday, May 19, on the human rights violations suffered by several hundred thousand construction workers in the emirate.