The son of a World Cup stadium construction worker who died in Qatar said his father warned of poor working conditions due to extreme heat before his death in 2018.
Abdus Salam detailed how his father, Mosharraf Hossen, “suffered to survive” in an interview with ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap, as part of the E60 documentary “Qatar’s World Cup” (ESPN/ESPN+, 8:30 p.m. ET on November 6), situation details of migrant workers in the making of football’s biggest league.
“He thought about his family’s happiness and future and went there hoping for a better income,” said Salam of his father, who moved from Bangladesh to Qatar in 2014 to look for work. “After getting the job [at the stadium], he said, ‘They don’t pay me properly. I am suffering to survive. ‘”
Summer temperatures in Qatar can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. On August 8, 2018, a day after temperatures hit 115 degrees, Hossen died.
Surma Begum, Hossen’s daughter, said: “All he said was that in Qatar there was too much suffering, too much heat. “He suffered a lot. It was hard work, but he never let us feel the pain.”
Hossen’s death certificate states that he died of a heart attack and kidney failure. His family received the equivalent of $686 in refunds from their owners, but nothing from the Qatari government.
“The reason indicated was a heart attack or a stroke, but we don’t believe it,” Salam said. “They didn’t want to tell us more about how he died.”
Low-income migrant workers and other foreigners make up the majority of the country’s population of 2.9 million, of which Qatari nationals make up about 380,000. Since being awarded the right to host the tournament more than a decade ago, Qatar has faced intense scrutiny over its treatment of some workers and other human rights issues.
According to the Qatari government, there have been 15,000 foreign deaths in the country since 2010, but only 39 of them were work-related. It added that none of those deaths were caused by heat. However, independent reports put the death toll among migrant workers as high as 6,500.
The cost of organizing the tournament, which begins on November 18 and runs through December 20, is said to be $220 billion.
Qatar’s Deputy Minister of Labor, Mohammed al-Obaidly, said there have been cases where compensation and payment have been made for work-related deaths or accidents. The country has also implemented new labor laws, established a $150 million fund to settle wage disputes and raised the minimum monthly wage to $275.
“We see this as the appropriate minimum to live in Qatar,” Al-Obaidly told ESPN.
Al-Obaidly added that the country would receive “destructive criticism” from outside groups about its working conditions.
“The World Cup is a period that will end on [December]but our law is ongoing and under development and we don’t do it [only] for the World Cup. “
When asked what she wants from the Qatari government regarding her father’s death, Begum said: “To take care of us, stand by us.
“We don’t have anyone else, all we have is my father. We are heartbroken because our father died in that stadium.”
