- The organising body announced the death, which occurred on Saturday
- Committee had denied any work-related fatalities on World Cup sites
- Human rights groups have criticised Qatar’s track record in the past
- The UN have urged Qatar to address workers’ rights ahead of World Cup
A worker has died in a ‘work-related fatality’ at the site of a 2022 World Cup stadium in Qatar, the country’s World Cup organising body said late on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning at the Al Wakrah Stadium and is being investigated, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said in a statement. Al Wakrah was designed by the late British architect Zaha Hadid.
‘It is with deep regret we announce a work-related fatality on one of our projects,’ said the statement. It did not elaborate on the cause of death.
The Al Wakrah Stadium, where a labourer has died from a ‘work-related fatality’
The organising body for Qatar had denied any work-related fatalities at World Cup sites
Qatar has drawn charges by human rights groups of labour abuse, including poor safety at work and squalid living conditions.
The Supreme Committee previously said there have been no work-related fatalities on World Cup sites, but law firm DLA Piper, in a review for the government in 2013, found evidence of dozens of work-related deaths across Qatar among migrant labourers from South Asia.
Qatar have been urged to address workers’ rights issues ahead of the World Cup
The bid logo for the Qatar 2022 World Cup
Qatar’s government has also denied claims there are higher instances of heart attacks among construction workers.
They also do not publish independently-verified statistics on work-related injuries and fatalities.
Autopsies and post-mortems on people who die sudden and unexpected deaths are forbidden by Qatari law unless a crime is suspected.
The United Nations has urged Qatar to address workers’ rights before World Cup construction peaks in 2017.
Doha says that it is working to reduce abuses but that these occur on construction sites all over the world.
Qatar were awarded the 2022 World Cup after a bidding process which included the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
