The World Cup in Qatar ended with Lionel Messi’s great triumph: the 35-year-old finally won the long-awaited World Cup title with Argentina. After the final, the international view turns away from the emirate and the difficult human rights situation there. Many workers who built the infrastructure and stadiums are still waiting for their wages. The vast majority are migrant workers who immigrated to Qatar to earn money.
One of them has reached out to Lionel Messi with a message. In a video by Deutsche Welle, Anish Adhikary said: “My message to Messi is: Thousands of workers like me worked on the stadium. We didn’t get our wages. I hope there’s a chance we get what we get owed when you generate attention for workers like us.”
According to a report by Deutsche Welle, the organizers of the Adhikary World Cup still owe thousands of dollars. “In Qatar, I didn’t even earn half of what I expected,” Adhikary said. In three years he had only earned 3,000 dollars instead of the 9,000 he had hoped for. He reports unacceptable working conditions: Despite the extreme heat, there was only an insufficient supply of water and food. Sometimes he and his colleagues got diarrhea because they were only served spoiled food.
Adhikary entered Qatar from Nepal and took out a loan specifically to pay a $900 fee to an intermediary, he told the Times of India. He was supposed to get the fee back, but that never happened. His bitter record: “It was all a lie.” Now he hopes the world-famous Messi can help to get him justice. “His notoriety could spread the case around the world.” The fate of the migrant workers in Qatar, along with the treatment of homosexuals, was one of the most important reasons for criticism of the World Cup host country.
Sources: Deutsche Welle / “Times of India”
Watch the video: Argentina wins the World Cup final in Qatar. For the first time in 35 years, the team brings home the title. People celebrated on the streets of Qatar – for many there was no stopping the jubilation.
