Qatari official reveals around 400 to 500 migrant workers died while working on World Cup-related projects, say reports

For the first time, a senior Qatari official with involvement in the country's World Cup planning, estimated that there would have been "between 400 and 500" fatalities of workers for construction of facilities, as per reports. This estimate is far greater than any provided earlier.

The statement was made in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan by Hassan al-Thawadi, the Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of Qatar.

In the interview snippets, which Morgan uploaded online, he was seen asking al-Thawadi the following query: "What is the honest, realistic total you think of migrant workers, who died as a result of work they’re doing for the World Cup in totality?"


Answering this, al-Thawadi said, "The estimate is between 400 and 500."

"I don’t have the exact number. That’s something that’s been discussed," he added.

He went on to add, "One death is too many, it’s as simple as that. [But] every year, the health and safety standards on the sites are improving, at least on our sites, the World Cup sites, the ones we are responsible for."



However, Hassan al-Thawadi's remarks appeared to prove criticism from human rights organizations regarding the expense of hosting the Middle East's first World Cup against the backdrop of the low safety standards of migrant workers, who constructed the stadiums, metro lines and other new infrastructure necessary for the event, which cost over $200 billion to build.

However, Qatari authorities have never previously made this number public. The number of worker fatalities related to the construction and renovation of the World Cup stadiums is only reported in Supreme Committee reports from 2014 until the end of 2021.

According to the data that was made public, 40 people died altogether. The Qataris classify 37 of them as "non-work incidents," such as heart attacks, and three as "workplace incidents." A worker who perished from the coronavirus during the pandemic is also listed individually in one report.

FAQs:

1. How many migrant workers died at the World Cup?
   According to the Qatari official in-charge of organizing the 2022 World Cup, "between 400 and 500" migrant laborers have died while working on World Cup-related projects.
2. Why is Qatar so hostile towards accusations of the deaths of migrant laborers?
   With accusations of large numbers of mysterious deaths among its large migrant worker population, which was brought to the Gulf state over the past 12 years primarily from impoverished parts of south Asia to build opulent stadiums and infrastructure for the four-week tournament, Qatar has been on the back foot since these the deaths were first reported.