The Australian national football team was moved on Thursday by “sufferingwho oversaw the organization of the World Cup in Qatar and became the first team to qualify for the competition to openly criticize the host nation.

“We recognize the significant progress and legislative reforms that have taken place in Qatar in recent years to recognize and protect workers’ rights, and we encourage all actors to continue on this path of reform.“Writes the Australian Football Federation in its press release. “However, we have also learned that the tournament is associated with the suffering of migrant workers and their families and this cannot be ignored.“, the federation continues.

The press release is accompanied by a short video featuring 16 players from the Socceroos team. “Over the past two years, we have worked to better understand and get to know the situation in Qatar.“, the players explain. “We are not experts, but we have listened to groups such as Amnesty (International), FIFA” And, “more importantly, foreign workers in Qatar“.

The players further cite the reforms implemented by the Qatari authorities regarding working conditions in the country, but believe that these changes “inconsistentand can be improved. Since FIFA awarded the 2010 FIFA World Cup to Qatar, the first Arab country to host the event has been criticized for its treatment of LGBT people, as well as foreign workers and women or even the air conditioning of seven of its eight stadiums.

Human rights organizations such as HRW and Amnesty International have called on Qatar and FIFA to create a compensation fund for workers affected by the World Cup construction sites, endowed with $440 million, the equivalent of the promised sports money. drawn up.

Qatar, for its part, claims to have implemented numerous reforms in recent years. However, efforts still need to be made in terms of its implementation, said the secretary-general of the European Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, during a visit to Doha this week.

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