THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS –
The Dutch World Cup squad will meet a gaggle of migrant workers in Qatar after a coaching session there forward of the group’s first match as a part of the Dutch soccer federation’s push to promote human rights on the match.
The Royal Dutch Soccer Association introduced the plan Thursday night time, on the eve of coach Louis van Gaal saying his last squad on Friday.
“First of all, we’re going to Qatar to grow to be world champions, however after all we glance past soccer,” Van Gaal mentioned in an announcement.
He mentioned that, as a group, “we discover it necessary to meet the folks concerned. We due to this fact invite them to our coaching to give them a pleasant recollection as effectively.”
The announcement got here days after FIFA urged groups to concentrate on soccer on the World Cup, regardless of considerations over attitudes in direction of LGBTQ2S+ followers and the therapy of migrant workers. The Dutch federation mentioned it organized the assembly with 20 workers along with FIFA and a labour union.
Migrant labourers who constructed Qatar’s World Cup stadiums typically labored lengthy hours beneath harsh situations and have been subjected to discrimination, wage theft and different abuses as their employers evaded accountability, London-based rights group Equidem mentioned in a 75-page report launched Thursday.
Under heavy worldwide scrutiny, Qatar has enacted various labour reforms in recent times which have been praised by Equidem and different rights teams. But advocates say abuses are nonetheless widespread and that workers have few avenues for redress.
Qatari officers accuse critics of ignoring the reforms and making use of double-standards to the primary Arab or Muslim nation to host the match.
Ambet E. Yuson, normal secretary of the Building and Wood Workers’ International union, mentioned migrant workers concerned in building initiatives linked to the World Cup have had higher safety, however the identical can’t be mentioned for different workers in Qatar.
“Employers, typically with impunity, proceed to defy the regulation and breach the human rights of migrant workers. With the match approaching, progress on common human rights commonplace has grow to be pressing,” Yuson mentioned.
The Netherlands, thrice a World Cup runner-up, opens its marketing campaign in Qatar towards Senegal on Nov. 21. Van Gaal’s group additionally performs Ecuador and the host nation within the group stage.