Canada Soccer slammed for not supporting fund for abused World Cup workers: 'Shameful'
Canada Soccer faces scrutiny for its failure to publicly support the call for FIFA to compensate migrant workers for serious abuses, including deaths, during Qatar's World Cup preparations.
The men's team's first appearance at the event since 1986 comes amid controversy over Qatar's suitability to host the World Cup. Numerous rights groups and labor unions, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have appealed for FIFA to match the $440 million it will hand out in prize money in Qatar to fund a compensation program for workers who suffered abuses during the construction of World Cup infrastructure.
Unlike other notable federations from western nations, Canada Soccer hasn't backed the initiative, known as the #PayUpFIFA campaign. Farida Deif, the Canada director at HRW, said the group has contacted Canada Soccer several times since April about supporting the program, including a direct public plea in June, but hasn't received any response.
"It's honestly perplexing and shameful that Canada has not (supported the remedy fund)," Michael Page, HRW's deputy director in the Middle East and North Africa, told theScore. "And that's especially the case when even the U.S., which has been reluctant, is now supportive of the campaign."
Canada Soccer didn't answer theScore's attempts to reach the organization for comment.
Uninvestigated deaths
Qatar started to overhaul its labor system in 2017. However, Amnesty International claims poor implementation and enforcement means "thousands" of migrant workers still face issues such as unpaid or delayed wages, unsafe working conditions, no rest days, barriers to changing jobs, and limited access to justice.
The deaths of those working on World Cup projects also remain uninvestigated, Amnesty International says. The Guardian reported in 2021 that over 6,500 migrant workers died in Qatar over the decade since the nation was awarded the World Cup in 2010, but given it couldn't clarify the occupations or places of work of the deceased, it's unclear how many of these deaths were World Cup-related.
Page noted that even countries that have "more at stake" than Canada in highlighting Qatar's mistreatment of workers, such as European countries that rely on the Gulf nation's liquefied natural gas supply, have supported the compensation pledge.
HRW revealed last week that at least seven soccer associations have publicly backed #PayUpFIFA:
- Royal Belgian Football Association
- French Football Federation
- The Football Association (England)
- German Football Association
- Royal Dutch Football Association
- Football Association of Wales
- United States Soccer Federation
Supporters' opinions
Amnesty International, in collaboration with YouGov, released poll results in September that gauged the opinion of fans from 15 countries across four continents about the compensation proposal. Among the significant findings: 73% of those polled support the fund for abused workers, and 67% want their country to speak up about human rights issues associated with the World Cup.
"(Canada Soccer is) essentially against fans, migrant workers, human rights groups, and labor organizations. It's indecipherable. It's totally puzzling what they're doing," Page added.
Canada's prominent soccer supporters group, The Voyageurs, told theScore in an email it was "alarmed" by Qatar's treatment of the LGBTQ+ population in the country and the migrant deaths that have occurred during preparations for the World Cup.
"We also support the need to make amends to workers who have died to make this event happen," The Voyageurs said. "We call on Canada Soccer to make this same proclamation as well. It is not only the responsible thing to do, but it is absolutely necessary."
The World Cup kicks off when Qatar hosts Ecuador on Nov. 20. Canada's campaign begins against Belgium three days later. Canada Soccer's response to Qatar's treatment of workers attracts added attention because Canada, along with the U.S. and Mexico, will host the next men's World Cup in 2026.
The Canadian men's team played a friendly against Qatar in September.
"A $440-million worker compensation fund is not enough to redress the human rights abuses endured and the thousands of laborers' lives lost in preparation for this year's tournament," Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general at Amnesty International Canada, said in a statement released to theScore.
"However, it is a step towards justice for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have suffered to make the 2022 FIFA World Cup a reality."