Dutch football also wants migrant workers at Qatar World Cup to be fairly compensated

The KNVB has again urged FIFA to arrange fair compensation and better legal support for migrant workers in Qatar. The Dutch football association did so through a European working group. Qatar is hosting the World Cup in November and December.

FIFA promised to respond after a visit by the UEFA working group to Qatar in June this year, but that never happened, the KNVB said. The working group, in which the KNVB is one of the initiators, then sent a letter to the world football association asking for clarity as soon as possible.

The KNVB is responding to an Amnesty International poll in the Netherlands and fourteen other countries. Over two-thirds of respondents said the KNVB should speak out publicly about the human rights abuses associated with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including compensation for migrant workers.

The football association pointed out that it already spoke out against Qatar as the host country when the World Cup was awarded in 2010. “We have spoken out many times about the human rights situation, both in interviews in the press and when we received the petition from #CancelQatar,” the KNVB said.

The KNVB has also been working to improve the situation of migrant workers in Qatar for some time. The football association has spoken with the organizing committee of the World Cup, FIFA, the embassy and authorities in Qatar, and the international trade unions.

The KNVB also supports Amnesty International’s plea for compensation for migrant workers. “We also believe that the victims or relatives should be compensated,” the KNVB said, adding that employers, the government in Qatar, the organizing committee, and FIFA must play a role in that.