FIFA should back up migrant workers -Nepali groups

STORY: More than three dozen Nepali civil society groups say FIFA’s president needs to “stop looking the other way” and compensate migrant workers who have been denied the money they are owed in Qatar.

In an open letter to Gianni Infantino, the groups demand compensation for workers they said had suffered

abuses and for families who have lost loved ones.

Around 400,000 workers from Nepal are employed across a range of sectors in Qatar, according Amnesty International... and they played a huge part in the construction projects required for the 2022 World Cup.

Qatar has faced intense criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers.

The government said its labor system was still a work in progress but denied allegations in a 2021 Amnesty International report that thousands of migrant workers were being trapped and exploited.

Rameshwar Nepal is with Kathmandu-based labor rights organization Equidem.

"We are not putting forward any new demand, but we are demanding for, with the FIFA to make your commitment fulfill and to pay the worker who owed a huge amount of money."

The Nepali groups say families aren't being compensated if the cause of their loved one's death is not linked to work.

And for workers who have already returned to Nepal, the letter said it was "next to impossible" to get reimbursed for stolen wages.

"Every loss of life is a tragedy…”

Infantino addressed the issue at a Friday news conference.

“...whatever we could do in order to change the legislation, to protect the health of the workers, to protect the situation of the workers, we did it and it happened. Whatever we can still do for the future, we are doing it.”

He added that FIFA is close to working out a deal with the International Labour Organization to ensure the World Cup can be leveraged to make people’s lives better in the future.