The commercial partners of FIFA have once again been urged to take a
tougher stance with the organisation over the poor working conditions in
2022 World Cup host country Qatar.
At an event in London on Monday, International workers’ unions joined
forces with other pressure groups to demand that FIFA sponsors “accept
their corporate responsibility and challenge human rights abuses at
World Cup infrastructure construction sites in Qatar.”
The press conference was co-ordinated by sports compression wear
company SKINS whose chairman, Jaimie Fuller, said that he had personally
written to eight FIFA sponsors accusing them individually of
effectively “contravening their own values and principles” by
contributing significant sums of money to FIFA and thereby providing
“implicit support” for working practices and conditions in the gulf
nation.
Fuller, who was recently in Qatar, said: “The kafala problem is just
the tip of the FIFA iceberg but it graphically shows their negligence
and their level of self-denial when it comes to confronting
international football’s major issues.
“FIFA refuses to accept any responsibility for the Qatari issue and
remains riddled with allegations of corruption, mismanagement and poor
decision making – all of which it refuses to confront to the
satisfaction of the international community.
He continued: “So far, FIFA’s sponsors have restricted themselves to a
series of rhetorical statements aimed at defending an indefensible
association.”
Last year, Sony and Emirates both announced that they would not be renewing their contracts with world football’s governing body.
The campaign, entitled NewFIFANow, even used Twitter to urge people
to contact sponsors on social media or via email to push for action.
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