Brazil Coach Tite Supports Compensation Fund For Migrant Workers

Brazil coach Tite has expressed his support for a compensation fund for migrant workers who suffered human rights and labour abuses in the run-up to the World Cup in Qatar.

Speaking on the eve of his team’s last friendly before the global finals against Tunisia in the French capital Paris, Tite said: “I would always like that there is greater social equality. I will support a movement for great social equality, not just in Qatar, but everywhere. Where people have greater social equality, greater opportunity, greater education, where there are teachers because some foundations are fundamental.”

“My education was rooted in my family, my friends and our teachers, and they are present in all of us. So that people have a more just, more egalitarian society, whether they are in Qatar or in any place. For the human side. I will support it, support it. … In relation to the fund? As well.”

With his statement, Tite, who took over as Brazil’s head coach from Carlos Dunga in 2016, became one of the few World Cup-bound coaches to back the call for a remediation fund for workers and their families who toiled and suffered in Doha. Earlier this year a coalition of Human Rights groups called on FIFA and Qatar to compensate migrant workers with the #PayUpFIFA campaign, demanding a fund of $440 million, the equivalent of the prize money that will be on offer during the World Cup.

Soccer and the sport’s stakeholders have however remained largely indifferent. However, at a recent news conference, Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal said: ‘Of course, I support it. That fund is a must, especially when you see what FIFA earns with the World Cup.”

A recent survey by Amnesty International suggested that the majority of soccer fans support compensation for migrant workers in Qatar. Almost three-quarters (73%) of surveyed adults support the call for a fund and more than two-thirds (67%) want their national soccer associations to speak out publicly about the human rights issues associated with the World Cup in Qatar.

“The NFF is fully behind the idea of complementing the existing remedies [for migrant workers in Qatar],” said Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness recently. “Qatar is not fulfilling the obligation of historical abuses. We have to be very concrete now and not just sit and yell at the award twelve years ago.”

Germany has also backed the idea. FIFA should “take its own responsibilities seriously” and set up a compensation fund for migrant workers in Qatar, said Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the DFB, the German FA. FIFA sponsors AB Inbev/Budweiser, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have stated their support for a remediation programme.

In 2010, Qatar was awarded the World Cup hosting rights but ever since the Gulf nation has been under scrutiny for its human rights and labor law track record. Much of the abuse revolves around the kafala system, prevalent in Gulf countries. It ties a “foreign” worker to a sponsor, who yields “unchecked powers over migrant workers, allowing them to evade accountability for labour and human rights abuses, and leaves workers beholden to debt and in constant fear of retaliation”, according to Human Rights Watch. Qatar and local World Cup organizers have always maintained that worker welfare standards have dramatically improved.