Qatar 2022 World Cup: We're ready to welcome the world

Security guards working on projects that include some linked to the World Cup have been subjected to conditions that amount to forced labour, according to a report.

The human rights organisation documented the experiences of 34 employees from eight private security companies after the official draw for the tournament.

The migrant workers said they worked for months or years on end without a day off.

Workers who took their day off faced being punished with wage deductions because their employers refused to respect the weekly rest day.

The private companies that employed the workers provided services for the stadiums and other infrastructure needed for the World Cup.

Three companies provided security for recent tournaments in the country, including the 2020 Club World Cup.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) did not renew the contracts of two of the three companies, but neither body provided enough detail to assess whether this disengagement was done in a responsible and transparent manner.

They compounded this failing by not identifying and addressing abuses in a timely manner.

Three companies were found to be non- compliant during the Club World Cup and the Arab Cup.

These violations were completely unacceptable and led to a range of measures being enforced, including placing contractors on a watch-list or black-list to avoid them working on future projects, before reporting them to the Ministry of Labour.

A hotel security worker from Africa often went months without a day off, according to a report.

Abdul from Bangladesh said that he did not have a day off for three years.

Workers are entitled to one full, paid rest day each week, thanks to a law in the country.

Many of the security guards they spoke to worked for weeks at a time, with some saying they worked 84 hours per week.

'Abuses are systemic'

The consistency of the accounts across multiple companies indicates that these abuses are systemic, according to a new report.

Despite the progress that has been made in recent years, our research suggests that abuses in the private security sector remain systematic and structural.

With the World Cup just months away, Fifa must focus on doing more to prevent abuses in the inherently perilous private security sector or see the tournament further marred by abuse. Time is running out.

The SC said it has been committed to protecting the health, safety and security of any worker engaged on official World Cup projects.

Our entire programme of work, which began in the construction industry and has since evolved into the hotel sector, is governed by our contractually-binding Workers Welfare Standards, which are diligently monitored and enforced.

The scale of the programme, which is unique even by international standards, will always have contractors trying to beat it.

We are committed to addressing and remedying any violation of our standards through our enforcement mechanisms, and where appropriate, collaborating with contractors and stakeholders.

391 contractors have been reported to the Ministry of Labour, 50 have been blocked from its projects, seven have been blacklisted, and millions of pounds in recruitment fees have been reimbursed, as a result of workers welfare inspections.

In a statement, Fifa said it does not accept any abuse of workers by companies involved in the preparation and delivery of the World Cup.

Contractors that failed to comply with the required standards were identified and the issues were addressed on the spot.

It also said that it would conduct pre-contract audits for other service companies at the World Cup, including security companies.

A new minimum wage and repeal of the kafala system are just two of the legal reforms that have been introduced by Qatar.

The reforms are not being implemented effectively according to the organization.

Enhanced labour standards have been expanded to cover World Cup service workers, but these promises have yet to fully materialise in the security sector.

Last week, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council for the Welfare of Workers said that there had been progress made on worker welfare.

Fifpro said that workers continue to be subjected to abusive practices and that unscrupulous employers are not being held to account.