FIFA President Sepp Blatter said on Friday that Europe "needs to shoulder far more responsibility for the exploitation of migrant labourers building stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar," according to Nick Squires of the London TELEGRAPH. Blatter said that the majority of companies working in Qatar on World Cup projects "were European and they should make sure that their employees were properly housed and cared for." Blatter: "We deplore what has happened there but the big companies are mostly from European countries and if you are a construction company you are responsible for your workers." Blatter said European countries, particularly Germany and France, "had lobbied hard" for the World Cup to be awarded to Qatar because of "economic interests," so those nations "should take a greater interest in the conditions of workers, most of them from South Asia." Blatter: "The Europeans are unhappy but European politicians and the heads of state of those two countries [France and Germany] should express what they think about this situation" (TELEGRAPH, 11/22).
THE BLAME GAME: REUTERS' Naomi O'Leary reported the European Parliament urged FIFA "to pressure Qatar to address labor conditions in stadiums and infrastructure under construction for the event on Thursday." Blatter: "It's easy to say all the responsibilities lie on FIFA. No, no, we are part of this responsibility." The French and German governments "did not immediately respond to a request for comment." Construction contracts in the run-up to the World Cup "have predominantly been awarded to large multinational western firms." The Amnesty Int'l report "found the majority of abuses involved workers employed by small subcontractors." Blatter said that Qatar "had written a 10-point plan to address labor rights, and that FIFA would decide its course of action after consultations early next year" (REUTERS, 11/22).
AFTERNOON STARTS: REUTERS' O'Leary reported in a separate piece FIFA "could reconsider its controversial decision to schedule some of next year's World Cup matches at midday in tropical venues." Blatter said that FIFA "had received a number of appeals to rethink its decision which has angered, among others, the world players' union FIFPro." Blatter: "We have received different pleas, letters and demands concerning the time schedule which has been established but which has not yet been sanctioned. We will speak on that" (REUTERS, 11/22).
IRAQ RULING: The AFP reported Iraq's "embattled" FA will hold leadership elections next year after a court ruled the last vote involved multiple problems. Iraqi FA VP Abdulkhaliq Massud said, "We are waiting for additional recommendations from both FIFA and the Asian association regarding the supervision of these elections" (AFP, 11/24).
