Behind the Passion: the human cost of the Qatar World Cup

Fundación para la Democracia presents the 2024 update of its report on the human rights situation of migrant workers in Qatar.

Fundación para la Democracia presents the 2024 update of “Behind the Passion” (Detrás de la Pasión), a report that seeks to shed light on the human rights situation of migrant workers in Qatar and the human cost of organizing the 2022 World Cup.

Ever since Qatar was chosen to host the World Cup, the treatment of foreign workers and the conditions under which the infrastructure works were carried out have been at the center of international debate. However, official figures, public records and the available explanations continue to show inconsistencies, a lack of transparency and an absence of adequate answers for thousands of families.

According to the Foundation’s research, nearly 16,000 migrant workers may have died in Qatar between 2010 and 2022.

Official statistics from the Qatari government record 14,715 deaths in that period.

These figures represent, on average, some 23 lives lost per week since 2010. Behind every number are men and women who left their countries in search of a better life and never returned.

As part of this research, a team from the Foundation traveled to Nepal in November 2022 to carry out fieldwork, interviewing relatives of workers who died and migrants who managed to return. Their testimonies make it possible to understand the human dimension of a problem marked by abusive working conditions, debt, lack of protection, the absence of clear information and scant reparation for the victims.

A call for accountability

At Fundación para la Democracia, we maintain that the World Cup must be merely the starting point for demanding accountability. Thousands of families are still waiting for truth, justice and compensation for the deaths of their loved ones. There are also workers who returned with permanent physical injuries, unable to continue supporting their households financially.

Hosting a World Cup is a privilege. Whoever does so must guarantee genuine human rights standards and take responsibility for protecting everyone involved in organizing the event.

Qatar must be a turning point.

Never again Qatar.

Never again corruption.

Never again football associated with shame and death.