400 to 500 migrant workers in Qatar died due to World Cup, not 6,500

A FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar chief revealed that about 400 to 500 migrant workers had died from working on projects related to the World Cup.

The figure stated by Hassan Al-Thawadi, the Permanent Secretary of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022, is in contradiction to what The Guardian found.

The British newspaper reported that over 6,500 migrant workers had died after Qatar was selected to host the 2022 World Cup, in 2010. The newspaper added that most of the deaths were low-wage operatives who worked in dangerous areas, e.g., on a building site in extremely hot weather conditions.

Al-Thawadi rejected The Guardian’s findings. The 44 year old said that the number was made up.

Al-Thawadi said it was possible that 6,500 migrant workers may have died in the Arab state over the past ten years but they were not all related to the World Cup. He added that only about 20% were related to the World Cup.

At the beginning of November this year, Qatar officials told the media that about 40 migrant workers had died and only three of them had lost their lives from construction work at stadiums being used for the World Cup.

After nearly two weeks of the tournament, the country finally revealed the official number of migrant deaths from the World Cup project on Monday, November 28, in a television interview.

Al-Thawadi informed Piers Morgan, the host of the British TV Channel, TalkTV, that…

“The estimate is about 400. Between 400 and 500. I don’t have the exact number. That’s something that’s being discussed. One death is a death too many, plain and simple.”

After being asked about the health and safety standard for migrant workers, Al-Thawadi insisted that the health and safety standards at work have definitely improved.