{"id":1758150,"date":"2022-12-01T07:57:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1758150"},"modified":"2022-12-01T11:03:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T16:03:14","slug":"qatar-500-died-while-building-world-cup-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/qatar-500-died-while-building-world-cup-facilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Qatar: 500 Died While Building World Cup Facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fqatar-500-died-while-building-world-cup-facilities%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1758150&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The head of a top Qatari government agency admitted this week to \u201cbetween 400 and 500\u201d worker deaths during the construction of facilities for the FIFA World Cup \u2014 a much larger figure than the 40 the Islamist regime had admitted to in the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"a8d-pre\">The FIFA World Cup, considered the most prestigious soccer tournament on the planet, is currently underway in the tiny Gulf nation. Qatar defeated the United States to win hosting privileges in a 2010 runoff race that the U.S. Department of Justice claimed in 2020 was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/06\/sports\/soccer\/qatar-and-russia-bribery-world-cup-fifa.html\">marred<\/a> by bribery. FIFA has faced decades of accusations of bribery and assorted acts of corruption. The Department of Justice also claimed that Russia, host of the 2018 World Cup, offered FIFA executives money to host.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Qatar hosting bid prompted international alarm for a variety of reasons, from its inhospitable desert climate to its lack of amenities to its atrocious human rights record. Qatari officials addressed the first concern by moving the tournament out of the summer to November and the second by enlisting thousands of impoverished migrant workers to build new, state-of-the-art stadiums, hotels, and other facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Doha addressed the third by accusing human rights activists of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/sheikh-mohammed-bin-abdulrahman-qatar-foreign-minister-to-europe-you-are-arrogant-and-racist\/\">racism<\/a> against Arabs, a line of attack FIFA has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2015\/06\/01\/qatar-accuses-west-of-racism-islamophobia-and-bias-in-wake-of-football-bribery-claims\/\">followed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"a8d-pre\">Qatar\u2019s migrant worker system has triggered global concern and condemnation since FIFA announced that the nation would host its top tournament. Under the now-defunct\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/qatar-rejects-calls-for-migrant-worker-fund\/\"><em>kafala<\/em><\/a> system, construction companies and other companies essentially controlled a migrant worker\u2019s passport, holding them hostage in Qatar and requiring employer permission to find a new employer or leave the country. If a company failed to pay the workers\u2019 wages or forced them to endure hazardous workplace conditions, workers had little to no legal recourse or way of going home.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Qatar formally dismantled\u00a0<em>kafala<\/em>, imposed a legal minimum wage, and claims it has made progress on labor rights, but many migrant workers say the changes are superficial and migrants trapped in the country had been organizing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/10\/25\/longtime-labor-abuse-accusations-resurface-ahead-qatar-world-cup\/\">protests<\/a> against the regime as recently as this October.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22646308\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/11\/wi\/ap\/wcup-qatar-ecuador-soccer-giant-inflateble-copy-of-trophy-is-displayed-prior-start-of-cup.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22646308\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/wcup-qatar-ecuador-soccer-giant-inflateble-copy-of-trophy-is-displayed-prior-start-of-cup-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Associated Press\" width=\"717\" height=\"478\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A giant inflatable copy of the trophy is displayed prior to the start of the World Cup group A soccer match between Qatar and Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. (AP Photo\/Darko Bandic)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Speaking to British entertainment personality Piers Morgan, the head of the Qatari\u00a0Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, tasked with running the tournament, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/football\/article\/2022\/11\/29\/qatar-says-worker-deaths-for-world-cup-between-400-and-500_6006022_130.html\">admitted<\/a> that hundreds of workers died building or remodeling facilities to make the World Cup possible. The admission comes over a week into the tournament, after $200 billion was spent on infrastructure for the tournament and at a time when it would be impossible for FIFA to abruptly revoke hosting duties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500,\u201d the official, Hassan al-Thawadi, said when asked directly about worker deaths. \u201cI don\u2019t have the exact number. That\u2019s something that\u2019s been discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"a8d-pre\">Al-Thawadi claimed that, to the government of Qatar, \u201cone death is a death too many.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The French newspaper\u00a0<em>Le Monde<\/em>, alongside the Associated Press, noted that Doha had previously admitted only to 40 deaths tied to World Cup facilities between 2014 and 2021 \u2014 and documented them in ways that exonerated employers, citing heart attacks and Chinese coronavirus among the causes. Of the 40 deaths, Qatar listed 37 of them as unrelated to work.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Thawadi\u2019s is the second interview this month in which a Qatari official offered embarrassing remarks for the country. In early November,\u00a0Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman responded to the controversy surrounding the nation\u2019s repression of suspected LGBT people by suggesting that homosexuality is caused by brain damage, which prompted handlers to abruptly end the interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not a strict Muslim, but why is it\u00a0<em>haram<\/em>? Because it is damage in the mind,\u201d Salman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/11\/08\/officials-stop-interview-as-qatar-world-cup-ambassador-likens-homosexuality-to-brain-damage\/\">told<\/a> the German broadcaster\u00a0ZDF before handlers frantically began waving their arms and shutting down the interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph\">The Qatari official\u2019s estimated death toll is significantly smaller than others compiled by journalists and human rights groups. Last year, the British newspaper the\u00a0<em>Guardian<\/em> published an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2021\/feb\/23\/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022\">estimate<\/a> based on publicly available Qatari government data that as many as 6,500 workers from South Asia had died in the decade following FIFA awarding hosting rights to the country.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22539633\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/11\/wi\/ap\/wcup-qatar-laborers-official-fifa-cup-countdown-clock-doha-corniche-overlooking-skyline-of-doha.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22539633\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/wcup-qatar-laborers-official-fifa-cup-countdown-clock-doha-corniche-overlooking-skyline-of-doha-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Associated Press\" width=\"743\" height=\"495\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The official FIFA World Cup Countdown Clock on Doha\u2019s corniche, overlooking the skyline of Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. One of the world\u2019s biggest sporting events has thrown an uncomfortable spotlight on Qatar\u2019s labor system, which links workers\u2019 visas to employers and keeps wages low for workers toiling in difficult conditions. (AP Photo\/Nariman El-Mofty)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe findings, compiled from government sources, mean an average of 12 migrant workers from these five south Asian nations have died each week since the night in December 2010 when the streets of Doha were filled with ecstatic crowds celebrating Qatar\u2019s victory,\u201d the newspaper observed at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Also last year, Amnesty International published a similar report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/fact-check-how-many-people-have-died-for-the-qatar-world-cup\/a-63763713\">finding<\/a> an astounding 15,021 migrant worker deaths associated with the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>The change in attitude this week from Qatari officials is of particular note given the defensive attitudes regime officials \u2014 in particular, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani \u2014 have adopted previously.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince we won the honor of hosting the World Cup, Qatar has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced,\u201d Sheikh Tamim <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/10\/25\/qatar-complains-its-slave-fueled-world-cup-facing-unprecedented-criticism\/\">complained<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n<p>Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/11\/21\/thousands-of-migrant-workers-watch-world-cup-opening-match\">promoted<\/a> government efforts to host parties for migrant workers in the \u201cIndustrial Area Fan Zone,\u201d for workers who helped build the tournament facilities but cannot afford to actually attend.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1669434601440000&#038;usg=AOvVaw1XfqoTd7SeqqWddTMe0t3Y\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1669434601440000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2qsgNOogjuKppVRs86Rijn\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The head of a top Qatari government agency admitted this week to \u201cbetween 400 and 500\u201d worker deaths during the construction of facilities for the FIFA World Cup \u2014 a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1758153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1758150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1758153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1758150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1758150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1758150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}