Calls for FIFA to contribute to a compensation scheme for migrant workers in World Cup host country Qatar have received strong public backing in an international poll.
Human rights campaign groups, including Amnesty International, have called on football's global governing body to set aside $440million (€440m) to support the scheme – equivalent to the amount it is set to hand out in World Cup prize money.
Seventy three per cent of more than 17,000 people who took part in a poll - commissioned by Amnesty International and conducted by YouGov across 15 countries - supported the idea of FIFA helping to compensate migrant workers.
Support is even higher among those who said they were likely to watch at least one World Cup game – 84%.
A substantial majority – 67% – also believe national associations should speak out on human rights issues related to Qatar, including calling on FIFA to support the migrant workers compensation scheme.
Migrant workers have been heavily involved in the construction of World Cup stadia and other infrastructure in the Gulf state since it was awarded the finals back in 2010, with Amnesty and other groups highlighting the human rights abuses they have suffered.
The groups have called on FIFA and the Qatari state to set up a fund which reimburses migrant workers for unpaid wages and for recruitment fees they have been forced to pay, and which would compensate the families of migrant workers who have been killed or injured at work.
The UN's International Labour Organization believes that 50 migrant workers died at work in Qatar in 2020 and that more than 500 were seriously injured.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: "FIFA should have insisted on human rights clauses when it originally assessed Qatar’s hosting bid – now it needs to make amends.
"Whoever wins the World Cup, we need to see proper recognition of the abuses so many workers experienced in the long and troubled lead-up to Qatar 2022."
FIFA said a wide range of measures had been implemented in recent years to improve protection for workers in Qatar.
"FIFA takes note of the poll conducted on behalf of Amnesty International, featuring respondents from 10 countries in Europe and five countries from the rest of the world," the governing body said in a statement.
"Respondents may not be fully aware of the measures implemented in recent years by FIFA and its partners in Qatar to protect workers involved in the delivery of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022."
