#154 FIFA World Cup: Behind The Scenes
#154 FIFA World Cup: Behind The Scenes
Argentina wins the World Cup! Messi lifts the coveted trophy! Millions celebrate across the globe!
All true.
Also true that thousands of migrant workers died in building the infrastructure Qatar needed to host this tournament.
Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in 2010. Since then, 6500 migrant workers from South Asia have died – directly or indirectly due to their work behind the scenes.
This report, compiled from government sources, was released by The Guardian last year.
“Behind the statistics lie countless stories of devastated families who have been left without their main breadwinner, struggling to gain compensation and confused about the circumstances of their loved one’s death”, reads the most heartbreaking line from the report.
Two weeks ago, Vox released a video on the same issue.
Seeing what went on with workers in Qatar may not mar our collective joy. We will still burst firecrackers; we will post gushing love letters for Messi and party with friends and family to celebrate Argentina’s victory.
But we should at least know, for the sake of those nameless, faceless men who were building our castles in exchange for handfuls of dust and nothingness.
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