Qatar says over 400 World Cup workers died. How it compares to past sporting events

Hundreds of workers died, including those building stadiums and infrastructure, leading up to the 2022 World Cup, a Qatari official estimated, far outstripping deaths reported ahead of past major international sporting events.

Between 400 and 500 World Cup workers died, a significantly higher number than had previously been cited, a senior Qatari official said during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.

“What is the honest, realistic total, do you think, of migrant workers who’ve died as a result of what they’re doing for the World Cup in totality?” Morgan asked Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, on a program that aired on Nov. 28.

“The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500,” al-Thawadi answered. “I don’t have the exact number. That’s something that’s been discussed.”

In a statement released after the interview, the committee said al-Thawadi was referencing “national statistics covering the period of 2014-2020 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities.”

Qatar, a wealthy emirate on the Persian Gulf’s west coast, secured the right to host the 2022 World Cup over a decade ago, and since then, it has constructed seven stadiums and around 100 hotels in preparation, according to the BBC.

In recent years, the small petrostate has received criticism for its checkered human rights record, which includes the exploitation of migrant workers employed to build the infrastructure for the World Cup, according to The Guardian.

“Migrant workers were indispensable to making the World Cup 2022 possible, but it has come at great cost for many migrant workers and their families who not only made personal sacrifices, but also faced widespread wage theft, injuries, and thousands of unexplained deaths,” stated Rothna Begum, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

How Qatar’s deaths compare to past events

The World Cup and the Olympics reign supreme as two of the largest international sporting competitions, and over the past several decades, worker deaths have beset these marquee events. However, precise figures obtained in a consistent fashion are difficult to come by.

Upwards of 10,000 construction workers, over half of whom were migrants, were recruited to build or alter 10 stadiums and other supporting infrastructure for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, according to a report from the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), a global union federation.

As of April 2018, the organization recorded 21 deaths, most of which resulted from falls or falling equipment.

Leading up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, eight construction workers died while working on 12 venues, according to Reuters. Falls, equipment collapse, and electrical accidents caused the fatalities, according to the outlet.

Official death statistics for past Olympic games vary, but they have been in the low double digits or below, according to media reports.

Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, eight workers died, a government official said, according to Reuters. One worker died ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which an inspection report attributed to the employer’s gross negligence, according to CBC.

For the second time in a row, only one worker fatality was logged in association with the 2012 Olympic games in London, according to Londonist.

Seventeen deaths were reported at Olympic stadium sites ahead of the 2014 games in Russia, according to Human Rights Watch. And eleven workers died over a three year period ahead of the 2016 games in Brazil, according to a report from BWI.

“This is the result of a lack of respect for workers’ lives,” the general secretary of the organization stated in the report.

Two workers lost their lives in the run up to the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, according to BWI, and three deaths were logged ahead of the 2020 games in Japan.

FIFA head defends Qatar

While these historical fatalities pale in comparison to Qatar’s newly released figures, variations in time frames and types of workers counted make direct comparisons difficult. Oatar’s numbers appear to be in reference to all workers connected to the World Cup, while many of the figures for past games are limited to construction workers, and time frames are not listed for all incidents.

Still, despite difficulties drawing direct comparisons, Qatar’s human rights record, which includes worker exploitation and lack of protections for women and LBGTQ people, has cast a pall on the 2022 World Cup, according to the Human Rights Watch.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended the World Cup being held in Qatar, saying the West is guilty of hypocrisy in its criticism of Qatar and its human rights record.

“I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons,” he said during a news conference, according to NPR.

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