Ari Lahti puhui FIFAn kongressissa Qatarin ihmisoikeustilanteesta ja työlaisten oikeuksista

Palloliiton puheenjohtaja Ari Lahti toi konferenssissa esiin Pohjoismaiden palloliittojen yhteisen huolen Qatarin 2022 MM-kisojen valmisteluun liittyvästä ihmisoikeustilanteesta ja työläisten oikeuksista. Lahti painotti, että huolimatta Qatarissa viime vuosina tapahtuneista edistysaskeleista, parannukset eivät ole riittäviä. Toimenpiteitä tarvitaan. 

Lue puheenjohtaja Ari Lahden puhe kokonaisuudessaan:

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Dear Mr President, Dear Gianni,

Dear Members of FIFA Council,

Dear Presidents of National Associations all over the World,

Dear Friends of Football,

We, the Nordic Football Associations, wanted to take the floor in this Congress to address FIFA and its member associations about human rights as well as workers’ rights in relation the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. 

We wanted draw your attention to these matters because we care about them. We care about human rights. We care about workers’ rights. By we I mean not only the National Associations of Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, but also our football players, our fans, our people. That is the way our societies are built up and these rights lie deep in our cultures. 

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We applaud the many leaps forward for workers’ rights and conditions in Qatar since being awarded the hosting of the World Cup in December 2010. The development is underlined by acclaim from ILO, ITUC and BWI, where all organizations praise developments in Qatar which are not seen elsewhere in the Gulf region. 

We are also happy to see FIFA implementing human rights policies across the organization and in FIFA tournaments, respecting the stand on human rights as enshrined in Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes.

However, the debate on human and workers’ rights in Qatar is as present as ever before. For our Nordic football associations our primary objective is to ensure a delivery of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar in full compliance with human and workers’ rights for the thousands of migrant workers building the World Cup infrastructure and working in different services, transport and hospitality sectors. The current situation for the migrant workers, no matter the improvements already been made in Qatar, needs to be improved.

This is a demand that is put to us, as members of FIFA, - and rightly so – by fans, players, commercial partners, media and so on.

This matter is not just a problem for FIFA, or for Qatar nor the Nordic Football Associations alone. It is a matter of outmost importance for the football community across the globe as our beautiful game shall be the responsible game, proving that the theater of the greatest dreams in football also can be the stage of human rights, respect, and anti-discrimination.

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Since 2016, our six Nordic football associations have been firmly committed to taking responsibility for improving the human and workers’ rights situation in Qatar. We would have done so no matter who the host would have been, no matter where the 2022 FIFA World Cup was to take place. 

We have worked with external experts, trade unions, human rights organizations, and many others on these important issues. We embarked on two visits to Qatar in 2016 and 2019 to engage in a dialogue with the Qatari hosts of the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy, the Qatari Football Association and Qatari authorities. With our own eyes, we have witnessed the efforts and initiatives put in place to improve workers’ conditions, but we have also observed and discussed the poor housing conditions, inadequate payment of wages and lack of access to courts and tribunals for the migrant workers. During our visits we have been asked by the migrant workers in Qatar not to leave them alone.  

And we will not. In December this year, we plan yet another visit to Qatar, seconded by trade union representatives and human rights organizations.

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Finally, I want to repeat that we engage in these matters because we care. We care for the human rights situation for the workers in Qatar. We care for the football lovers in the World, looking towards the World Cup 2022 as a beacon of joy. We care for the football community and we want to take seriously our responsibility also in this respect when organizing the FIFA tournaments. And we care for the legacy left in Qatar after the final whistle is blown next year. 

And I want to believe that “WE” in this case means ALL OF US. 

Thank you.

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Kuuntele puheenjohtaja Ari Lahden puhe FIFAn kongressissa (kohdassa 2:41) >>