In less than a month's time at the Al Bayt Stadium, the 2022 World Cup will kick off with the opening fixture between host nation Qatar and Ecuador.
The 60,000-seater venue, which features a retractable roof, is one of seven stadia constructed for the tournament (the Khalifa Stadium is the only one that existed a few years ago) which has required a vast outlay in infrastructure spending that is estimated to run up to €300 billion since FIFA awarded the gulf nation hosting rights back in the winter of 2010.
But as the World Cup looms, "time is running out" to compensate migrant workers who have died or been injured during the construction process according to Amnesty International who have also outlined that "abuses persist" in Qatar despite reforms of its labour laws
The human rights group is among those to have called on football's world governing body FIFA to commit to a $440m (€449.5m) compensation fund for migrant workers but as of yet, no such scheme has been announced.
Amnesty's head of economic and social justice Stephen Cockburn has called on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to show more leadership on the issue.
"We first wrote to FIFA president Infantino five months ago. We've not had a reply to that letter," Cockburn told RTÉ Sport on Wednesday ahead of Amnesty's publication of their latest briefing, Qatar: Unfinished Business: What Qatar must do to fulfill promises on migrant workers' rights.
"We've not had an official reply to that. We understand that they are considering it. They said last week at a meeting that it was something they were seriously considering progressing. So we know it is being discussed.
"We know it's been raised with them, we know that others have been raising it with them and that's sponsors and football associations as well.
"But four or five weeks left to the World Cup and they have not made an announcement and not made a commitment. It's got stuck somewhere.
"It needs some leadership from Gianni Infantino to say, 'We're going to do this'. We don't need all the details, we don't need an exact plan of how it works but it's a commitment that 'we're going to do it, we're going to set up an expert group, that we're going to study how best to do make this happen' and that they'll fulfil their responsibilities and that they will set aside some money for it."
Cockburn added that he is "hopeful something will happen" but "time is running out and we do need to see leadership from FIFA".
"FIFA has accepted that it has a human rights responsibility. It's got a human rights policy, it's starting to try and improve the way it does things but we have always highlighted the fact that we feel they have been too hands off in Qatar in terms of the working conditions around their stadiums," he said.
"We have found abuses on World Cup sites. We have felt they have not been strong enough on the broader range of projects which are essential (to the World Cup) like the metro, the highways and things that FIFA do not control but are essential to their tournament.
"We feel they have to be stronger in how they are getting Qatar to enforce better standards on that."
In response a FIFA spokesperson told RTÉ Sport that, "As recognised by independent experts, such as the International Labour Organization and international unions, a wide range of measures have been implemented over the past years to improve protections for workers in Qatar, and these developments have come about largely as a consequence of the World Cup being played in the country.
"This also includes FIFA and its partners in Qatar applying pressure on companies when needed to ensure remediation of workers involved in FIFA World Cup preparations. Workers have been compensated in various forms where companies failed to uphold the Workers' Welfare Standards of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), which is the standard used by FIFA and the host country to ensure the protection of workers involved in FIFA World Cup-related activities.
"These measures were complemented by the steps taken by the Ministry of Labour to enforce Qatari labour law and provide for access to remediation, such as through the Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund."
On the potential for a compensation fund, football's world governing body added: "FIFA remains in positive ongoing dialogue with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and all relevant authorities in Qatar over initiatives that will benefit migrant workers in Qatar long after the final game of the World Cup. Further information will be provided in due course."
While Amnesty has acknowledged that Qatar has made some improvements on workers' rights issues in its efforts to reform the kafala sponsorship system including areas such as wage compensation, job transfers and the abolition of the exit permit, it feels enforcement remains a significant stumbling block.
"Where we have seen more limited progress has been in investigation of deaths of workers," said Cockburn.
"Still most workers who are dying in Qatar, their cause of death is not investigated and that means if they are work-related, we don't know and it also means that the families don't get compensation which is a significant and major issue.
"There's been an improved law in there since 2017 but really not implemented. The research that we've done shows that the vast majority of domestic workers still work between 14-18 hours a day without a day off is the norm, which is illegal as well as absolutely unacceptable but there hasn't been much progress on that.
"And we still see lots of cases of forced labour especially in certain sectors like security guards, cleaners and such. So I think there has been some progress in some areas but the reality is that abuses still persist, they're still prevalent and especially in certain sectors and certain areas because laws that have been in place for a long time just simply are not enforced enough."
The eyes of the world will be on Qatar for the next two months until the World Cup final on 18 December but how concerned are Amnesty that a reduction in global scrutiny in the aftermath will slow the reform process as attention is diverted elsewhere?
"That is a concern. We've always felt the World Cup provided a window of opportunity and an ability to shine a spotlight on conditions and drive progress," said Cockburn.
"Qatar has said that it will continue the reforms and continue to work with international labour organisations to do so and I think many of the reforms are in their own interests as well so I do believe that they will continue.
"I guess I have my questions about whether without the international scrutiny what the level of enforcement and implementation will be and I think it's really important that we do keep an eye on it.
"Qatar will continue to want to be a global hub whether it's for media or sport or many other things. It won't disappear from the limelight entirely. It will bid for future sporting events and it will be hosting major conferences so I think we have to keep watching what's happening and keep encouraging Qatar to move, criticise where necessary and praising when deserved because the World Cup isn't the end and it's a big opportunity to do something lasting for workers. But we've got to make sure it lasts."
