Sponsors pressure FIFA amid fresh Qatar worker abuse claims

Major sponsors Visa and Coca-Cola May 20 pressed FIFA to help improve labour conditions in Qatar as Amnesty International accused the 2022 World Cup host of failing to deliver on promised reforms for migrant workers.

"We continue to be troubled by the reports coming out of Qatar related to the World Cup and migrant worker conditions," credit card giant Visa said, adding that it had expressed its "grave concern" directly to football's top body.
 
Coke said it was also pressing FIFA to demand more labour reforms from Qatar, after fresh accusations from rights group Amnesty that labourers in the tiny oil-rich country were dying in their hundreds.
 
"We expect FIFA to continue taking these matters seriously and to work toward further progress," the company said.
 
Their statements, which come after similar criticism from sponsor Adidas, are the strongest indication yet that high-profile commercial backers are becoming increasingly uneasy over the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar.    

FIFA is due to hold a meeting later this month that could see a resolution put forward to remove the World Cup from the country -- the first ever awarded to the Middle East -- because of the slow pace of labour reforms.
 
World football's governing body said it would continue "to urge the Qatari authorities to accomplish reforms".
 
"FIFA has repeatedly urged publicly and with the highest authorities in Qatar that fair working conditions for all workers in Qatar are imperative," it said.
 
But Amnesty warned that "without prompt action, the pledges Qatar made last year are at serious risk of being dismissed as a mere public relations stunt to ensure the Gulf state can cling on" to the event.
 
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