As the saying goes, cut the hands that make excellence or in Qatar's case, dispose of the people who made excellence.
Amid a lot of controversy, Qatar won the bid to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup in 2010 and since then Qatar has done a lot of work to prepare and perfect the country for the World Cup. Or to say it correctly Qatar's workers did a lot to perfect the country for the World Cup.
Yes, that's right! As over 90% of Qatar's workforce comprises immigrants, which is about 1.7 million, about 3,200 workers, mostly immigrants, work on the Khalifa Stadium every day. These workers have paid about ₹41,000 - ₹3,52,000 (500-4300 USD) to recruitment agencies to get the jobs that are nearly killing them.
Although Qatar has spent about $220 billion - $300 billion in making the country World Cup ready, building new buildings, new hotels, new roads, a new airport, many new stadiums and whatnot, Qatar has exploited the hands that actually made all these buildings. Amnesty International, a human rights group raised questions about Qatar's labour practices back in 2013, asking for investigations. Now, with just over 10 days left for the first match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, there is conclusive proof that Qatar has been exploiting and ignoring the rights of its immigrant workers.
Low wages, late salaries, no insurance, horrible living conditions, and forced labour are the start of Qatar's horrific working conditions.
With the dream of a better world and the promise of a better life, thousands of immigrants packed and moved to Qatar. The second they landed their passports were taken and they were taken to their “homes” for the years to come. These homes consisted of a room with 4 bunk beds which was supposed to house 8 people. And as the first month ended they were given their first salary - the amount again, disgustingly low. These immigrants were told not to ask questions or complain. They were told to keep quiet and do the work they were given and if they didn't they would never go back to their country.
When Qatar ran short on hotels for the World Cup, these workers were told to evacuate their houses in hours. With no place to sleep most immigrants slept on the streets till they found accommodation.
The 2022 World Cup will definitely be an out-of-the-world experience, with the entire world's attention and admiration. But at what cost? The lives of those who built it. After the World Cup, Qatar will become a world attraction earning millions in profit, but these people will still be sleeping on the streets waiting for their salaries that Qatar's government for some reason just isn't ready to release.
As Former Manchester United and Leeds forward, Eric Cantona said back in January this isn't a real World Cup, he then added “.....if meritocracy and potential is the essence of football, it’s even more surprising that we can organise a World Cup in Qatar, and people actually voted for that.”
He added, “It’s only about money and the way they treated the people who built the stadiums, it’s horrible, and thousands of people died. And yet we will celebrate this World Cup.” Catona meant that since in football the main things are hard work, talent and merit it is very surprising that the competition is being hosted in a country which not only runs the sole idea of money but a country with many human rights violations and a country which does not offer any chances to the poor no matter how talented or skilled they are, whether this is in regard to work, education or sports.
Qatar's one goal is money and the past 10 years of making the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022 a reality stand as testimony to this.
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