The international union BWI presented this Wednesday before the International Labor Organization (ILO) a complaint against Saudi Arabia for its frequent mistreatment of workers, a measure that occurs a few months before the FIFA confirm the country as the host of the 2034 World Cup, the NGO reported Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The complaint, presented during the annual conference of the Geneva-based organization, accuses the Saudi kingdom of various abuses that include non-payment of wages to tens of thousands of workers, restrictions on the movements of employees, intimidation and threats.
“A complaint like this should be a red flag to companies and organizations like FIFA, which are planning massive events and operations in Saudi Arabia, given the government’s lack of protection for migrant workers from exploitative and abusive employers.”said HRW director of global initiatives Minky Worden.
According to the complaint, 85% of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia surveyed complained that they cannot freely leave their jobs, 65% do not even have access to passports and other identification documents retained by employers, and 46% have seen salary payments delayed or frozen to force them to stay.
The complaint is similar to the one that the same union filed against Qatar in 2014 for similar abusive practices, which did not prevent the country from hosting the 2022 World Cup, although it was surrounded by controversy.
Saudi Arabia is the only candidacy admitted by the FIFA to organize the 2034 World Cup, after the withdrawal of other initially interested countries such as China, Australia and other nations.
The 2026 World Cup will be held in North America (Mexico, the United States and Canada) and the 2030 World Cup will be held in three other continents, Africa, Europe and South America (Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), so FIFA decided that a or several Asian nations were the only possible venue for the 2034 edition.
Source: Gestion
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