Today, a declaration of liability was sent to the Féderation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in Switzerland for violating international human- and labour rights in Qatar as a result of the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. If FIFA fails to accept liability within three weeks, the case will be brought before the Swiss courts.
The case is being initiated by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakvereniging; FNV) and Mr. Alam, a migrant worker from Bangladesh who worked on World Cup-related construction projects in Qatar from 2014-2016.
FNV and Mr. Alam are represented by Dutch lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld and David Husmann, lawyer in Switzerland (external).
Read the case summary here.
See also
- O. Gibson, 'Fifa faces legal challenge over Qatar migrant workers', The Guardian | 10 October 2016
- W. Veenstra, 'FIFA aangeklaagd voor uitbuiting in Qatar', de Volkskrant | 10 October 2016
- W. Veenstra, 'In de hel van Qatar', de Volkskrant | 10 October 2016