Who really builds the World Cup?

Source: thetelegraph.co.uk

As the World Cup enters its fourth and final week, critics, organisations, and those watching at home have commended Russia for their hosting skills, especially for providing such beautiful grounds for the matches to occur. Yet very little is said of how the stadiums were built – more specifically, who built them. What many football fans are unaware of is that the stadiums built for this World Cup probably would not exist without the thousands of migrant workers, particularly those from one of the most oppressive and controlled countries, North Korea.

In the lead up to the 2018 World Cup 9 stadiums across Russia were built or redeveloped to join those existing and make up the 12 stadiums to host the 64 matches of the World Cup.

The largest venue, Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, stands at an 81,000 capacity and, having hosted the opening game, will also go on to host the final.

Luzhniki Stadium is just one in a long list of stadiums that have become the site of many migrant worker deaths – deaths which have been overlooked and ignored, simply due the fact that they are of migrants.

The process begins in North Korea, a state infamous for the complete lack of social, economic, and political freedom. Those lucky enough to escape and defect find it difficult to land on their feet after having lived within such a blanketed community. The lack of skills, education, awareness combines to create an individual incapable of producing their own independent thoughts and opinions. This is the perfect target for business gangs operating within the corruption of the government.

In other cases, the DPRK may select certain individuals to go out to these sites and work in order to bring back money to the country. This is as a result of the dramatic and complete decline of hard currency within the DPRK following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic barriers the Kim Dynasty have set up between themselves and the rest of the world. This then becomes one of the very few ways to bring money back into the country – money that will not benefit the individual but instead be used to fuel the propaganda and maintenance that the DPRK so heavily relies upon.

In the case of the 2018 World Cup stadiums, migrant workers are sourced and employed from third party groups, separate but not completely independent of FIFA. Deals are made between the employer and the beneficiary (usually the DPRK government and any connections in between). The workers are completely neglected from this process and are simply told lies of what their salary will be and what they will be able to do with it. Most workers are promised a salary large enough to support themselves comfortably with enough to send back home to their families who may remain in North Korea.

The reality however, is very different. Flexible hours become daily 20-hour shifts, protective clothing is now out of the question, and workers are considered lucky to even receive 10% of the original sum. Instead the money goes back to the third-party organisations and the enters the corrupted cycle between Russian gangs and the DPRK to facilitate the development of North Korea, including its nuclear development. What is left of the workers’ salary is withheld from them, allowing bosses to choose when and where they can spend, should they wish to grant them that opportunity. What once seemed like an opportunity to better their lives essentially evolves into a complete violation of human rights.

Those who question or challenge what they have been subjected to are usually threatened with the safety of their families back home or sent back to North Korea where they and their family will suffer punishments as a result.

Despite a law passed early in 2013 which aims to prevent World Cup employees to be abused in such a way, tens of thousands of North Koreans still suffer the same fate, therefore questioning both Russia’s and FIFA’s commitment to human rights issues. Though these companies may be third party companies separate to FIFA, it seems unrealistic that FIFA had been unaware of what was going on years before.

FIFA’s response has remained the same. They will “continue to follow up any allegations made with regards to human rights violations”. Yet the exact same thing is happening in Qatar, only worse.

Source: namibian.com.na/Home

Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup and has already been subject to death tolls far greater than Russia. FIFA continually promise to monitor the construction sites in Qatar just as they had promised to do so in Russia but there are inevitable shortcomings; assessment visits are planned and announced in advance, giving companies the opportunity to hide anything that may indicate the violation of human rights, and FIFA then go on to publish very little, if any, of their findings, offering no indication if situations have improved.

Over the years thousands of deaths have been reported by the Qatari government, the deaths of workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and India. Almost all are said to be from causes that officials have chosen not to explain or investigate whilst others are simply dubbed as having occurred from natural causes which is clearly not true.

The World Cup isn’t going anywhere, the money it generates is far too great for this to even be considered, but FIFA needs to take some responsibility for the rights and safety of those who work to create the tournament. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has since admitted to the severe abuses of human rights in regards to the North Korean workers across Russia and many promises have been made to prevent risks to employees, but words need to become actions.

FIFA needs to be more transparent with their data. Their newly adopted human rights policy is just the start. Their newest policy regarding the rights of journalists and human rights defenders at the games is just as important. These progressions however, have only occurred because of the pressure that the public put on FIFA. The pressure needs to remain to ensure that the World Cup does not become a human rights free zone.

Thank you for reading!

Aman