Activists criticized the English Football Association for what they described as the “extreme delay” in its statement on human rights in Qatar’s preparations to host the 2022 World Cup.
On Wednesday, the FA launched an anti-discrimination campaign that includes a badge bearing the words “One Love” or “One Love”.
The federation also supported claims to provide compensation for injured expatriate workers and the families of the deceased during their use in the implementation of construction projects for the facilities of the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
But Human Rights Watch questioned the timing of that move.
WHO spokeswoman Rothna Begum said the FA’s statement was “welcome, although very late”.
Begum added, “While we are only a few weeks away from the start of the World Cup matches, it is necessary for all football federations to exert maximum pressure on FIFA and the Qatari authorities to launch a fund to compensate workers in World Cup facilities for wages they did not receive or injuries they sustained or to compensate their families in cases of Death”.
“The FA statement says they have taken time to see what role they need to play, but we and many others have always called on them to step up their support for expats,” Begum said.
Qatar will host the World Cup from November 20 to December 18.
The FA said that for more than a year it had been engaged in a dialogue on Qatar with human rights organizations, trade unions and NGOs “in an effort to reach a balanced understanding of the main issues in this country and in the surrounding region”.
England captain Harry Kane said he plans to wear the “One Love” badge in European Nations League matches and in the World Cup matches.
In the Netherlands, the One Love campaign started before Euro 2020 as a way to promote the meanings of diversity and inclusion, and as a message against discrimination.
The initiative was also supported by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Wales and Switzerland.
The number of migrant workers who were employed in the construction of facilities and facilities for the World Cup in Qatar is estimated at about 30,000 people.
These facilities included seven stadiums, in addition to a new air port, a new subway station, as well as new roads.
Amnesty International says that since 2010 hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have faced rights abuses while using them to build World Cup facilities.
The English Football Association said it was trying to persuade FIFA to launch a center for migrant workers, as well as inviting these workers to the headquarters designated in the World Cup facilities to train the England team in Al Wakra to meet the players.
Begum said the One Love badges are an “important symbol of support.”
But a Human Rights Watch spokeswoman added that “all football federations should call on the Qatari authorities to ensure that no one is discriminated against on the basis of their gender or gender orientation, regardless of whether they are Qatari or foreign, during or after the World Cup.”