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arwebb

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Amnesty International today demanded FIFA act over the abuse of migrant workers involved in construction projects for the Qatar 2022 World Cup after publishing a new report.

In a press conference in Doha on Sunday, the international human rights body published its report into labour exploitation in the country titled ‘The Dark Side of Migration: Spotlight on Qatar’s construction sector ahead of the World Cup’.

The explosive findings prove unhappy reading for FIFA as Amnesty’s document says there is widespread and routine abuse of migrant workers - in some cases amounting to forced labour.

The report, seen by INSIDER, clearly states that certain aspects of FIFA’s approach “give cause for concern”.

“It’s not enough for FIFA to downplay its responsibility in this issue,” James Lynch, Amnesty Researcher on Gulf Migrants' Rights said.

“The World Cup is FIFA’s tournament and it carries its name. FIFA has a responsibility to ensure human rights abuses down take place in the staging or preparation for World Cups."

He added: “So we expect FIFA to engage closely with Qatar 2022 and the Qatari government to ensure that labour exploitation in the construction sector ends. FIFA needs to send a strong message to the Qatari authorities and the construction sector that human rights have to be respected in all World Cup related construction projects.

“That’s not only stadiums and training facilities, but also hotels, public transport and infrastructure that are part of this World Cup.”

The report is based on evidence gathered from interviews with approximately 210 migrant workers in the construction sector, including 101 individual interviews undertaken during two visits to Qatar 2012 and March 2013.

But it wasn’t until September when the story came out about predicted migrant worker deaths on World Cup projects that the issue took hold in the sporting world.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter initially said he was very concerned by the issue and even discussed it with the Emir on a visit to the Gulf state last week. But the overall approach of world football's governing body has been to lay the blame at Qatar's door, as something the government must fix.

Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International, said in a statement: “The world’s spotlight will continue to shine on Qatar in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup offering the government a unique chance to demonstrate on a global stage that they are serious about their commitment to human rights and can act as a role model to the rest of the region.

“Our findings indicate an alarming level of exploitation in the construction sector in Qatar. FIFA has a duty to send a strong public message that it will not tolerate human rights abuses on construction projects related to the World Cup.”

http://aroundtherings.com/articles/view.aspx?id=45076

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If the situation will not be improved and if many workers died of overwork by 2022,can we really enjoy the games in the saddest cemetery?

As much as we enjoyed Beijing 2008, I guess, or 1978 in Argentina...

There's already quite a few cemeteries on which arenas and stadia have been built on, metaphorically.

Qatar was a fatal mistake by FIFA, but as long as Blatter is there, they will not admit it and carry on regardless.

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As much as we enjoyed Beijing 2008, I guess, or 1978 in Argentina...

There's already quite a few cemeteries on which arenas and stadia have been built on, metaphorically.

Qatar was a fatal mistake by FIFA, but as long as Blatter is there, they will not admit it and carry on regardless.

To be fair though, Blatter was NOT crazy about it going to Qatar. He has even publicly excorciated the 14 who voted for Qatar...or actually even just 4 switching over would've avoided this catastrophe. And FIFA is trying to honor its contract when unless Special Investigator Michael Garcia finds something amiss, Qatar seems to have won it "fair and square." And I don't know that the double-election really added anything to the fatal selection for 2022.

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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Zaha's impuss*ble architects strikes again!

Architect Zaha Hadid Fires Back at Critics of Her So-Called “Vagina Stadium”

“It’s really embarrassing that they come up with nonsense like this,” she tells TIME exclusively.

al-wakrah-stadium-011.jpg?w=360&h=240&cr
Aecom

“It’s really embarrassing that they come up with nonsense like this,” Hadid tells TIME exclusively. “What are they saying? Everything with a hole in it is a vagina? That’s ridiculous.”Zaha Hadid, the world’s best-known female architect, is none too pleased with critics like Jon Stewart, who have mocked her Al Wakrah Stadium—designed with AECOM for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar—and likened her to the “Georgia O’Keeffe of things you can walk inside.”

The curved, open roof is meant to evoke the the sail of the dhow, a traditional fishing boat common in Qatar. “Honestly, if a guy had done this project,” she adds, critics would not be making such lewd comparisons.

From: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/22/architect-zaha-hadid-fires-back-at-critics-of-her-so-called-vagina-stadium/

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Not to be outdone, Russia won't sit back for 2018 now, will they? How about a 2000 foot high, 50 foot wide stadium? Cylindrical around the edges, pointy at the top. (To keep out the blistering cold)

they could build two, touching each other naturally.

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i don't know why this vagina stadium is an issue now, as opposed to say two years ago when i first raised it in my qatar stadium review thread.

or when anybody with eyes saw it for the first time.

although i do miss the teeth somewhat. that was the edgy part.

OMG! I didn't remember that thread. You HAVE to review every render for every WC/Olympics from now on!!!

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  • 5 weeks later...

More than 80 construction workers hired to work in Doha’s high-rise towers and stadiums, mostly from Asia's poorest countries, are facing a “serious food shortage” after working for almost a year without pay, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

“Their conditions are still the worst as they have not been paid for almost a year; they are starving as they cannot afford buying food. They also can't afford to send money back home to their families,"said Salil Shetty, Amnesty's secretary general.

The allegations leveled by the leading human rights organization place further pressure on the tiny but wealthy Gulf state over its treatment of overseas laborers as it prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup .

The London-based organization claims laborers working on two floors of the Al Bidda Tower in the Qatari capital are still waiting for up to a year's worth of salaries from their employer for a project finished in October. The tower is home to the Qatar Football Association.

Workers in general complain about abuses ranging from passports being withheld by Qatari employers and not being provided with healthcare to working for long hours without adequate pay.

Affected laborers come from Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Nigeria, China and Bangladesh. Few Egyptians work in this construction field; most work in hotels. It is still unclear why the workers' employer, Lee Trading and Contracting, did not pay. Documents suggest the workers are owed about US$412,000, according to Amnesty.

The project was completed in October 2013, and since then the laborers have been stranded in their camp, the rights group said.

The company could not be reached by phone and Qatari officials could not be reached for comment.

One Nepalese laborer told Amnesty researchers: “‘Do the work and we’ll pay you tomorrow’, they said … We kept doing the work and they kept changing the date and we never got paid.”

The same man said that his sister had committed suicide in Nepal in mid-2013 because of the financial problems that his family was facing. He had not been able to send them any money for many months and was not able to return home for her funeral.

Qatar has vowed it would review the workers' conditions and publish a report of claims of widespread abuse of migrant workers, revamping Qatar for the upcoming World Cup within the next few weeks, as organizers prepare to start work on the first of 12 stadiums.

Amnesty's claims emerge at time in which the oil and gas-rich country is under international scrutiny after a Guardian investigation brought light to the plight of workers and Qatar's use of exploitionary tactics in preparing for the World Cup.

According to documents the Guardian says were obtained from the Nepalese embassy in Doha, at least 44 workers died between 4 June and 8 August. More than half died of heart attacks, heart failure or workplace accidents.

Last month, Amnesty called on the international football governing body FIFA to ensure an end to the exploitation of migrant workers, and warned that laborers face dangerous working conditions, poor accommodation and unpaid wages.

“It is shameful to think that in one of the richest countries in the world, migrant workers are being left to go hungry. The Qatari authorities must take action immediately,” Shetty said.

http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/unpaid-workers-going-hungry-qatar

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Absolutely shameful and FIFA should give Qatar a short, strict deadline to fix this or 2022 is NULL and void.

They should, but they won't. This farce will happen, but the whole lead up to 2022 already feels like watching a train crash in the making - you see that it'll end up in a disaster, but there's no way to stop it anymore.

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