The True Cost Of The Qatar 2022 World Cup | True Cost | Business Insider 

The irony is they can afford to pay 270 million to David Beckham but not compensation to those poor workers

My teacher used to work as an engineer in a very big firm that worked mainly in Qatar. When asked why he left, he said, "Poor working rights. They get a building done in a day, but the amount of people that die and the amount of families I had to call saying that their family member had died. Was outrageous."

I’m from Bangladesh and thousands of people who are struggling go to Qatar hoping to feed their family. They are forced to work under harsh weather without any safety gears. Many people fall to death while working these jobs, many people are abused by the contractor who has their passport and threatening them of calling the police and getting them locked up. And the worst part is they barely make 10$ a day because the contractor who gets the payment for the employees takes majority of the money. I had a family member who was sent home in a casket after they used his money to book the flight home. The tragedy of these workers are endless

My dad was a victim of this kafala system in the UAE as a private driver for an Emarati family in 2008. His sponsor (an individual who happened to be an airport official) kept his passport and one fine day just cancelled his visa without any notice. He had 30 days to pack up and leave after living 30 years in the country. The worst part is the sponsor wouldn't give him his passport - he was handed the passport at the airport during departure and we realised later that he was placed on a permanent ban to not being able to re-enter the country again. I was left heartbroken and not sure how my father felt as he always hid his emotions and never opened up about it. I went to the local immigration office to find out the reason behind the ban and if it could be lifted but was told that the only way to lift the ban was by the sponsor. It almost felt like they knew what had happened but seemed like they couldn't do much about it. A country where I was born and raised, it felt like I had no place there although I speak local Emarati Arabic including reading and writing and also know the culture and traditions well. This left a permanent mark in my heart for which reason I left the country in 2016, never to set foot in it again. The entire gulf region behaves in a similar way with slight variations, some better or worse than others. In my experience, the people of Oman and Bahrain are more real in the sense they do not look down on people from those migrant nations.

The saddest thing is that no matter how many of these reports come to light, how many symbolic protests the teams make that in the end they only take advantage of the issue because if they really wanted to protest they would do things like not attend but of course that is unthinkable, that for the next World Cup/Olympics a similar story will repeat itself.

Hats off to insider for bravely exposing Qatar’s sinful deeds.

The majority of fans and corporate interests did not, in fact, really care about the human cost of the World Cup. If they had cared, there would have been a massive boycott.

Disgusting how they can spend BILLIONS , but then treat the workers like slaves. They obviously have more than enough money to pay them fairly, and to compensate the families, but they just don't want to.

Happy to see that somebody is talking about the people behind the scenes who is making the world cup a reality

I'm from Nepal and it makes me so sad for the situation of my country people and my neighbouring countries people who had to leave their respective countries for employment and lost their lives abroad because of modern slavery and poverty

What a painful 😣 reality behind this beautiful tournament. In their opening ceremony, they should take a moment to remember those workers who had lost 😞 their lives in order to build these stadiums. Rip to all workers.

Let's not forget, when in England most of the stadiums were built, 20-30 years ago. They never had safety equipment then, who knows how many people died, yet we still sit in our stadiums.

"fans don't want to sit in a stadium that workers died to build". I wouldn't be so sure about that, we're talking about die hard football fans here. I'm pretty sure most of them are more worried about whether or not it's going to be difficult to buy beer. The teams are quite clearly prepared to play in these stadiums that workers died to build, shouldn't they be leading by example?

Congratulations Qatar and FIFA you'll be happy and celebrating your success but the people who lost their Lives and their poor family will never be happy again 🥺

I believe more people should be watching this video because it shows the true side and the hardwork that actually goes behind making these stadium. Kudos to those who support our dreams as an athlete and such platform like NYXS that gives us good opportunities

This is the best video by business insider, indeed an eye opener🙏🏻👌🏻hats off to the team🙏🏻

This happens not only for World Cup, it happens for the Olympics as well

I am from Mahottari, Nepal and its really painful to see our people being enslaved by these tyrants.

I like to Thank all Human Right commission, news outlets, Soccer Teams and western folks who have raised voices for the basic rights of my people for meeting basic conditions. Where my Government didn't even cared for its own people you guys stood up Once again Thankyou

I was there in 2015 when some of the World Cup buildings had already been constructed, and even then there was news and concern of worker conditions.

It's not just that the World Cup in Qatar was a bad idea, it's that building a huge sprawling metropol in the middle of a scorching desert, where all the money comes from oil and 2/3 of the service sector is about cooling things down... is insanity.

The true cost are the human lives whose lives were taken without acceptable compensation.

I am glad this is getting coverage amidst all the glitz and glamor on tv

Thank you Buisness Insider for showing the world about the reality .. Thanks a lot

This is a great example of how money will always rule this world. It’s very said for those who lost a loved one

In a way , the worldcup had a positive effect. The issues of migrant workers in middle East countries were always there ... Way before the world cup was announced. This actually brought attention to the issue and is blowing a wind of change...

My deepest condolences goes out to all the families and people personally affected by such conditions. In my opinion I think FIFA and the host nation should be held accountable as they should of continued to monitor and do regular checks for human rights, equality and the wellbeing of each person working there regardless of race or gender from the looks in this documentary seems like still nothing was done to compensate the lose of lives, safety and total disregard of life. Peoples greed has made them worse than animals, this starts from the people in high positions both in the nation’s countries and FIFA it’s self.

Firstly, RIP to those who lost their lives. It’s a real shame that most people won’t come together to boycott this atrocity.

This happens all over Gulf Cities including Dubai as well. It’s sad.

‘’Courage taught me no matter how bad a crisis gets ... any sound investment will eventually pay off."

Hats off to business insider. Such a masterpiece 👏👏

David Beckham is one of the luckiest athletes of all time. 277 million dollars for being the ambassador for Qatar 2022

Sad that FIFA is such a corrupt org. Why is it like that?

that was some seriously informative news. good job

These oil countries should be penalized for the chronic human rights violations...

World Cups should only be played in countries that can actually host the tournament in every way

Not just qatar , this sponsorship thing happens in all of the gcc , mainly because of the entry of indian, Bengali Pakistani and nepali workers agreeing to work for minimal to minimal wages

Thank you Business Insider for this video, No one covered this topic

Thanks for reporting ! ❤️💐

I worked for a very reputable civil engineering & construction company in the UK, long since gone but only this weekend I was reminded of two similar occasions in the early 1970's where they had employees driving to work in the morning & were involved in fatal road traffic accidents, one of them involving the death of three employees... What's this go to do with Qatar....? Well, for many, many years afterwards, the company remained in contact with the deceased workers' families, particularly at Christmas time. They were never forgotten. It was highly appreciated by the families & here it is still remembered 50 years later. & this is the long-standing problem in Qatar. A lack of compassion, decency & quality in the companies, starting at the very top with the local owners/partners & filtering down thru' their Arabic management. The continual desire to save money, especially on workers' accommodation, food, & site conditions for workers. It's too late now, the thousands of workers who have died, the locals who have got rich from accessing all the World Cup money, the Arabic management who have all skimmed-off money from suppliers involved in ANY & EVERY transaction, & the workers who've barely been able to improve their lives in most instances.

It's funny because, at the beginning of the video, when you look at the crowd celebrating the attribution of the WC to Qatar, you realize that 99.9% are not Qataris but just immigrants LOL

The only thing worse than allegations of corruption and human rights abuse is calling football "soccer"

From Nepal: we lost our people but Qatar will be enjoy the on the occasion of Fifa World Cup, RIP for my people.

I've come to accept that in this world, the big boys are the top players. And regardless of how many times stories like this surface, the big boys always win without consequences for their inhumane actions.

Thank you so much for this video. Very instructive.

A human life is precious than any amount you can think of .

Honestly I feel like a combined middle East World Cup would've been a better idea than just Qatar. Theres no way these stadiums will be used much beyond any additional huge tournaments Qatar holds.

The World Cup should be hosted by multiple countries in the same region, most of the infrastructure people are dying to build won't even be needed after the competition

Nice do one on the previous world cups next

the 2022 world cup has ended yes and The USA Canada and Mexico has the 2026 bid, but after watching this and reading reports about it about the system qatar has there? i honestly feel sad and guilty for watching the whole tournament, after knowing that it took over 2,000 workers to build these stadiums and alot of them died. RIP to all the workers who died

Not only Qatar but Kuwait UAR KSA Oman the whole of that peninsula. I saw some horrible living conditions and saw many of these poor workers working under the heat and it broke my heart.

It is very sad and painful coming to know such things happened just for a football match😔

as a fellow middle eastern I believe that this is truly unbelievable that these workers scarified themselves for the sake of others. This shouldn't even be allowed and qatar takes a big L for that.

I love the opening quote of this video - "Fans don't want to sit in a stadium that workers died to build". Meanwhile, the stadiums are full.

Fabulous 👌

PLEASE MAKE THIS GO VIRAL!!!

Thank you Insider for bringing attention to this. They are doing far worse things than what you uncovered. Keep up the good work.

I like how this lady said fans would not want to be in a stadium, when every game was full of energy regardless of how it was built lol

Great report

The awarding of hosting privileges should be a circuit as opposed to a bid. this will give countries enough time to prepare as well as include all countries and regions in a manner that resonates with the spirit of the game. Bidding only sidelines some of the best countries that are willing to host a truly humane event devoid of human rights violations but are limited by their inability to have a resource pool at a moment's notice they can draw from in the few years of preparation provided by FIFA. A circuit of willing hosts would tackle this issue.

This is the first video I've shared as it sums up the Qatar situation so well. I have been a football / soccer fan for over 40 years but won't be watching this horror of a tournament.

I have a question ⁉️ After this FIFA, for what purpose this big stadiums would be used for?

Great 😍😍

A rule should be in place that any country that wishes to host the World Cup or the Olympics should have and use the facilities need to host the events.

The most important thing that should be on everyone mind currently should be to invest in different sources of income that doesn't depend on the government. Especially with the current economic crisis around the word. This is still a good time to invest in various stocks, Gold, silver and digital currencies.

Nice concept for the business

Wonderful video

All sacrifices made by brave Nepalese is undeniable and priceless.

The irony is that millions of people will still attend the competition 😢😢😢😢😢😢

In Qatar, government projects are awarded to big contractors - mostly managed by foreigners. They hire workers from overseas through agents in south East Asian countries. The agency takes fees from the companies/contractors. As a result Contractors expect the workers to not work elsewhere once the workers arrive in Qatar. The government cannot control every single recruitment happening in the private sector - which is run by foreigners themselves. For decades, workers have been coming to Qatar from south east Asia willingly (nobody forces them on planes). The workers knows that conditions in their countries (and in Europe) are worse than in Qatar. If the Europeans are sincere about those south East Asians, then they should hire them in Europe.

As a nepalese, i am truly saddened to see this happen. thank you business insider. for showing what truly happened.

This is painful. My eyes burst with tears. I pray that the families of the deceased will be given what they have been fighting for. Humanity is more important than a fifa world cup

Would there have been a penalty associated with teams pulling out of the World Cup the moment Qatar was announced as having “won” the bid?

This problem was first exposed around 9 years ago. Yet people are only finding out about it now.

Great that they are making steps towards fixing it but it still not enough hopefully they will do more. I give them credit it a marathon not a sprint.

I'm glad that this human rights issue was touched on in detail.I had not approved years ago of Qatar winning the bid to host thenvtried to accept it, But it's sad that compensation isn't willingly given especially after what the workers went through with. exploitation

Thanks for reporting on this issue and throwing light on the migrant labor issues, unfortunately these people take advantage of the desparate situations of these poor people, who are not educated enough to know they're being exploitated and treated like slaves.

Thanks for opening my eyes on this. Great doc. Rest in peace to those who perished...

This is the great examples of how money rules over the world.

This is devastating. Why can't they even pay decent compensation for those who got injured and died? People will forget everything once the world cup starts in a few months

Thank you for this important video. A small request, though. For the sake of your global audience, could you please list degrees in Celsius alongside Fahrenheit? It's a small adjustment that will make a big difference. Thank you.

Best video

Unfortunately people are often severely injured or die on big construction projects. So you have mostly likely been in a stadium where someone paid with their life for you to enjoy the sporting events. And this is everywhere not just Qatar.

Good job everybody share and comment we need this to spread ❤❤❤

Really appreciate your effort for presenting world the other side of the Qatar world cup 2022 which has been neglected ever since.

Can someone help me understand the economics here qatar's gdp is 220 b in 2022 even if they had gdp to debt ratio 100% total money would only be 440 b so how can they spend 50% of their gdp on a sporting event????

R.I.P those poor workers that their only wish was find new possibility for theirs families may God have them in heaven 🙏🏼

Fifa officials can sell their family if Qatar offers them huge money!

Thanks for the good work business insider. Proceeds from this documentary should be used to help those families.

Ossam

Many Indians have died any no report were found on them.Thank you for showing the true side of a dazzling or sensational FIFA world cup

The staggering loss of human life just so some guys can kick around a ball in the desert is appalling.

Never knew this was the case. Thank you for this video 😢

greatest world cup of all time

the dark secret which they have been practicing from decades is finally exposed accidentally by FIFA

Damn I don’t think I would be able to enjoy watching the World Cup.

Been there once for a few days, and it was more than enough. Qatar is not the only country in the region like this. One of my friends said he would need to see these countries run out of oil before he dies

I think it is ignorant of FIFA to even consider Qatar which just had 1 major stadium at the time. The financial stress it puts on a country is crazy. Also, to put it in perspective, 6500 deaths is more than twice the number of people who died in 9/11.

Great

Its crazy why they bring this up now