Qatar World Cup Stadiums Construction, 2022 Building Projects, News, FIFA Arena Designs

Qatar World Cup Stadiums

FIFA 2022 Sports Arenas – Major Sports Developments in Middle East

6 Oct 2013

World Cup Stadiums Qatar

Qatar World Cup 2022 Health & Safety Controversy

World Cup 2022: football cannot ignore Qatar worker deaths, says Sepp Blatter

However the FIFA boss sparked anger by saying there is ‘plenty of time’ to deal with issue, reports The Guardian.

The FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, has admitted world football cannot “turn a blind eye” to the deaths of hundreds of construction workers in Qatar as the country prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.

On Thursday 3rd of October The Guardian ran this as their top front page story, claiming 44 Nepalese workers had died in Qatar since 4 June and 8 August 2013, and that 70 had died on building sites in Qatar since the beginning of 2012.

FIFA Stadium Al Garafa:

image from architects

e-architect’s focus has always been purely on architecture but with these shocking levels of deaths we can’t ignore this aspect and feel it appropriate to raise the issue. Health & Safety is a paramount concern in the construction industry – and therefore the architectural profession – both in building projects but also long-term, for example safe building in earthquake zones.

The latter is something we have raised in editorials on numerous occasions because it has a direct relationship to decisions being taken by architects.

The Health & Safety issue re World Cup Stadiums in Qatar is less related to architectural decision-making but nevertheless one cannot ignore the figures, especially the Union’s reported warning that up to 4000 deaths might occur before the torunament has started.

Qatar World Cup Stadiums – external link to The Guardian article from 4 Oct 2013 (note this is different to the news in the paper from 3 Oct 2013 which stated the numbers of deaths amongst other text).

Under mounting pressure to act over The Guardian’s revelations that dozens of Nepalese workers had died this summer in conditions described as “modern-day slavery”, Sepp Blatter said he would meet the new emir of Qatar to discuss the issue. But the FIFA President’s claim that it had no direct influence over the situation and that there was plenty of time to resolve the issue angered many.

FIFA World Cup Stadium Al Shamal building design:

image from architects

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said: “Fifa’s offer of only a ‘courtesy visit’ to the emir of Qatar is totally inadequate and fails to put in place any plan to stop more workers dying.” The ITUC has warned that 4,000 construction workers could die before the 2022 tournament starts if conditions do not improve for the labourers working on infrastructure projects worth an estimated £137bn.

FIFA World Cup Stadium Al Khor:

image from architects