Looming behind the excitement of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is the toll it has taken on the country's migrant workforce.
Data suggests that thousands of migrant workers have died in the Qatari construction industry since the tournament was awarded to the country in 2010.
But the Qatari government says the death toll from stadium construction is much lower than some sources claim, and the overall amount of deaths in the industry is proportionate.
Here, The Sporting News examines one of the most controversial aspects of World Cup 2022 and looks in particular at the toll from the construction of World Cup venues in Qatar.
More: Qatar World Cup stadiums 2022: Cost, name, sizes and capacity for every pitch
How many workers died building Qatar World Cup stadiums?
According to Qatari officials, there were "between 400 and 50" deaths among workers at World Cup stadium construction sites.
That is actually a higher total also than the Qatari's themselves first put forward. Initially, officials cited a number of only 37, but in the middle of the tournament, on November 29, World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi in an interview with talk show host Piers Morgan revised that figure significantly upwards.
"The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500," he said.
"I don’t have the exact number, that’s something that’s been discussed. One death is too many, it’s as simple as that."
However, many sources dispute even that new figure.
A Guardian report from February 2021, citing records from national embassies, claimed that more than 6,500 workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar by the time of its report, since the Gulf nation was awarded the World Cup hosting rights in 2010.
Other sources have suggested it is likely that the death toll from foreign workers in Qatar is actually a lot higher, as that figure only includes India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka — not nations such as Philippines and Kenya, who also have large migrant workforces in the country.
Those deaths cannot be officially attributed to a certain project or area of the Qatari construction industry, but they have occurred since the country was awarded World Cup rights in 2010 and started many infrastructure projects to host the tournament — including stadiums, roads, hotels, a new airport and public transport systems.
Why did workers die building World Cup stadiums?
The Qatari government stated earlier this year that only three of the 37 deaths they first put forward as the number for migrant workers building World Cup stadiums between 2014 and 2020 were work related — as per their own official records.
However in 2021, Amnesty International accused the Qatari government of attributing deaths to natural causes instead of conducting adequate investigations, meaning that the nature of reported deaths from the country appears uncertain.
According to The Guardian report, many migrant workers died from stress-related injuries, such as heart attacks and strokes, because of high temperatures in Qatar nearly all year round.
A number of suicides have also reportedly occurred, with suggestions that the tough working conditions may have been a factor in that toll.
These causes of death have all been recorded as 'natural causes', claim Amnesty International.
Why World Cup stadium deaths involved migrants
With huge amounts of infrastructure needing to be built for Qatar to host World Cup 2022, the Gulf nation has employed thousands of migrant workers to help with the construction.
Seven stadiums needed to be built for the event from scratch, while a new airport, new metro system, a series of roads and around 100 hotels have also been erected.
A new metropolitan area has also been built around the Lusail Stadium, which will host the final.
Qatar says around 30,000 foreign workers were hired just to build the stadiums alone — mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and the Philippines.
What have FIFA and Qatar said about migrant worker deaths?
In May 2022, FIFA president Gianni Infantino chose not to dispute the number of migrant workers who had died in Qatar and instead stated that those building the stadiums gained pride from hard work.
"Let's not forget one thing... when we speak about this topic, which is work, even hard work, tough work," Infantino said, as quoted by AP. "America is a country of immigration. My parents emigrated as well from Italy to Switzerland. Not so far, but still.
"When you give work to somebody, even in hard conditions, you give him dignity and pride. It’s not charity. You don’t make charity. You don’t give something to somebody and say, 'Stay where you are. I give you something and I feel good.'"
Infantino continued: "Now 6,000 might have died in other works and so on and of course FIFA is not the police of the world or responsible for everything that happens around the world. But thanks to FIFA, thanks to football, we have been able to address the status of all the 1.5 million workers, working in Qatar."
Quotes and commentary from the Qatari government on migrant worker deaths have been few and far between, so the latest admission from Al-Thawadi mid-tournament was something of a surprise.
According to The Guardian, the Qatari government believes the 6,500 deaths in its entire construction industry between 2010 and 2020 is proportionate to the size of the nation's migrant workforce, and that this figure includes business workers dying of natural causes after living in Qatar for many years.
The government also points out that since 2017 it has introduced measures to protect foreign workers from carrying out their jobs in very hot weather, limit their working hours, and improve conditions in workers' camps.
"The mortality rate among these communities is within the expected range for the size and demographics of the population," the Qatari government said in a statement by a spokesperson. "However, every lost life is a tragedy, and no effort is spared in trying to prevent every death in our country,"
