China’s Role in Labor Rights Abuses Tarnishes Qatar’s ‘Golden Bowl’ Stadium

Construction of the Lusail Stadium was part of the Belt and Road Initiative

A giant FIFA World Cup trophy replica and fireworks on the pitch alongside Iranian and U.S. flags before the match between Iran and the United States at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 29, 2022. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Although the Chinese men’s national soccer team was disqualified early on from the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, China is touting its role in building the game’s centerpiece venue, the Lusail Stadium.

However, reports of widespread human rights abuses during construction loom over what would otherwise have been a showcase of modern architecture, with some media describing it as the “stadium of shame” and referring to the World Cup as the “Qatar World Cup of Shame.”

The stadium was a joint venture between Qatar’s HBK Contracting Company and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), a Chinese state-owned enterprise. China hailed the Lusail Stadium as a landmark project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Qatar, with Chinese media calling it a “golden bowl.”

The iconic bowl-shaped stadium was one of eight stadiums constructed for the World Cup.

However, recent reports indicate that migrant workers who contracted to build Qatar’s World Cup stadiums endured human rights abuses ranging from nationality-based discrimination, illegal recruitment practices, and wage theft to deprivation of legal rights.

A 75-page report (pdf) released in November by human rights group Equidem includes interviews with 60 workers employed across all eight stadiums. Workers came from countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. All of the interviewed workers spoke to the group on conditions of anonymity, fearing retribution.

The report alleged workers suffered “persistent and widespread labour rights violations,” including “workplace violence—including physical, verbal, and mental abuse.” Abuses at the Lusail Stadium, the final game’s venue, are mentioned numerous times.

The official emblem of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is unveiled in Doha's Souq Waqif on the Msheireb-Qatar National Archive Museum building, in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 3, 2019. Christopher Pike/Getty Images

Widespread Labor Rights Abuses Alleged

“Supervisors would hit us in front of other workers to pressure us to work faster and complete our work on time. This physical abuse was never addressed. You could report, but nothing would happen because the perpetrators were our supervisors,” a Kenyan worker employed by HBK at the Lusail stadium project told Equidem.

Another Kenyan worker employed at the project said he worked 14-hour days without overtime pay for more than two years.

Chinese media reports paint a different picture.

On Nov. 18, China’s 21st Century Business Herald published an exclusive interview with Li Chongyang, CRCC’s general manager. Li said “the ambient temperature in Qatar is very high. When the temperature reaches a certain level, our workers must take turns resting. Sometimes on hot days, the working time does not exceed 2 hours. This is the regulation of Qatar, and we strictly follow it.”

However, the statement directly contradicts Equidem’s report.

A Nepalese worker at the Lusail Stadium project told Equidem that workers were forced to keep working amid hot temperatures.

“Once, when a FIFA group came to Lusail Stadium, workers were on site. Workers have seen deaths and other accidents. If they complain, there is a risk that the license of the [contractor] may be revoked. To avoid this, we were all sent to the camp at least an hour or two before the FIFA group’s arrival. Everyone was sent to [the] camp. There was no worker on-site,” the Nepalese worker said, adding that the fire alarm was frequently rung deliberately to clear workers from the construction site.

The worker said that, at some point, it was clear that the fire drills were false alarms and workers stopped heeding them.

“Workers started to hide [in the worksite for] a chance to complain to the FIFA group. Then the company started checking if anyone [was] still on site. If anyone was caught hiding, they were either sent back home or had their salary deducted,” the worker added.

The report summarizes more than two dozen labor rights violations during the construction of Qatar’s World Cup stadiums, ranging from discrimination, wage theft, and physical, verbal, and mental abuses to worker deaths on site.

Expert: China Shares  Responsibility

Li told the Business Herald that CRCC and HBK “formed a close joint venture” to construct the 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar. He noted that HBK is one of the most powerful large-scale construction companies in Qatar, and “cooperating with local companies is the general direction advocated by the Chinese belt and road initiative.”

However, when it comes to the mistreatment and exploitation of migrant workers at Qatar’s Lusail Stadium, China current affairs commentator Xia Yifan told The Epoch Times on Nov. 28 that CRCC is a general contractor and, as such, bears ample responsibility.

“In the international engineering construction industry, Chinese companies usually win bids at low prices. They employ the pettiest tricks and have the worst reputation. One of the most prominent features is the poor treatment of workers,” Xia said.

Xia said he fears the company will escape responsibility for the abuses, however: “I don’t think the CRCC will leave a legal loophole. Because these local companies have channels to avoid risks.”

Xia said if the project had taken place in the United States, the labor rights violations would not have happened. In a first-world nation, the CRCC could not “afford the consequences of lowering workers’ wages, let alone abusing workers to death,” Xia said.

The Equidem report also points to workers’ deaths, alleging lax safety standards.

A Nepalese worker told Equidem that a worker from Bangladesh plunged to his death from the fifth floor in March 2019. Reportedly, he was not wearing a safety belt. And in 2021, a Chinese worker fell from around 82 feet and died.

In a TV interview with British journalist Piers Morgan last week, Qatari official Hassan al-Thawadi admitted that there have been “between 400 and 500” migrant worker deaths since construction on the stadium began.

However, in a 2021 report based on data from countries that sent workers to the stadium project, The Guardian estimated that approximately 6,500 workers died over the construction period.

The Epoch Times reached out to HBK for comment.