New Delhi: FIFA World Cup 2022 (FIFA World Cup 2022) being played in Qatar (Qatar) has once again been surrounded by controversies. Preparations for this tournament were going on for many years. Thousands of migrant laborers were employed to build stadiums, metro lines and new infrastructure worth more than $200 billion for the tournament. Several reports claimed that hundreds of laborers had also died amid the preparations during this work. Media reports put the death toll in the thousands during World Cup preparations. Following these reports, human rights groups strongly criticized Qatar. Qatar is also being criticized all over the world.
The official disclosed the death toll
But now a new explanation has come to light. An estimated figure of how many laborers have lost their lives due to preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2022 has been revealed. Hassan Al-Thawadi, Qatar’s top official involved in the organization of the FIFA World Cup, has disclosed this. Hassan is the Secretary General of Qatar’s Supreme Committee on ‘Delivery and Legacy’. In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, he said that 400 to 500 people had died in the preparations for FIFA. Pierce has also shared a clip of this interview on social media. At the same time, the Supreme Committee and the Qatari government have remained silent on the matter.
What did the Qatar official reveal?
In an interview with British journalist Morgan, Hasan was asked, ‘What is the honest, real figure on migrant worker deaths for World Cup preparations?’ Hassan replied, ‘The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500. He said I don’t have exact figures. But this figure was not discussed publicly before.
6500 people died by 2021 due to hosting
According to the Qatari government, a total of 15,021 foreigners died in the country between 2010 and 2019. A report has stated that since Qatar was awarded the host of the FIFA World Cup until 2021, more than 6500 foreigners have died there.
All these were residents of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. However, it is not clear in these death statistics whether the laborers died due to place, work or any other reason. The Qatari government has also said that 30,000 foreign workers were employed to build the FIFA World Cup stadium. Apart from all this the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that 50 people died at work in 2020. 500 were seriously injured and 37,600 suffered minor injuries.