Football

CONSTRUCTION workers building Saudi Arabia’s 11 new stadiums for the World Cup have been dying heinous deaths – from decapitations to death plunges.Human rights groups have warned of a terrifying “surge” in the deaths of migrant construction workers in the Middle Eastern region as it gears up to host the 2034 tournament.Migrant workers are seen at a construction site near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in MarchCredit: GettyHuman rights groups have warned of a terrifying “surge” in the deaths of migrant construction workers in the Middle Eastern regionCredit: GettyFIFA president Gianni Infantino has previously faced accusations of steering the nomination towards Saudi ArabiaCredit: PAAfter being confirmed as the host of the 2034 men’s football World Cup in December, Saudi Arabia is throwing tens of billions of pounds at insane building projects – including an entire mega-city.In preparation, the Saudis unveiled plans to build or upgrade 15 futuristic stadiums – 11 of which will be entirely new.Despite the Cup being nine years away, labourers working to build the sites are dying in horrific yet preventable incidents, reports from Human Rights Watch and Fairsquare claim.It comes just a day after the President of FIFA Gianni Infantino visited Saudi Arabia alongside US President Donald Trump as the pair attended a US-Saudi investment forum.READ MORE SPORTHuman Rights Watch were able to speak to the hearbroken families of 31 workers from Bangaldesh, India and Nepal.Their relatives either fell from heights at the sites, were crushed or decapitated by heavy machinery – or electrocuted.But Saudi medical authorities rarely conduct autopsies to establish the exact cause of migrant workers’ deaths, FairSquare claims.A couple of months ago a Pakistani foreman, Muhammad Arshad, was reported to have plunged from a construction site at a stadium under construction in the eastern city of Al Khobar.Most read in FootballMuhammad’s tragic death marked the first related to the World Cup – with many more to follow.One widow of a 46-year-old Bangladeshi man who was working in Saudi Arabia told Human Rights Watch of her husband being harrowingly decapitated in the workplace.Migrant workers are seen at a construction site near RiyadhCredit: GettyThe Roshn Stadium has one of the most striking designs of all the 2034 venuesCredit: www.dezeen.comThe Qiddiya Coast Stadium will host games in the group stage, as well as the rounds of 32 and 16Credit: www.dezeen.comShe said: “According to his colleagues and the foreman, he noticed a mechanical issue with the machine he was operating. “He turned off the machine to fix it and was trying to remove a stone that was stuck inside when someone accidentally turned the machine back on. His head got caught inside, and he died on the spot.”The grieving woman added that when her husband’s body arrived in Bangladesh, “his head was separated from his body” which resulted in her losing consciousness “seeing him in that state”.And another widow of a 25-year-old Nepali man revealed that despite her husband getting electrocuted at work, his death “is officially classified as a natural death”.She added: “We did not receive the dead body of my husband, but were instead informed that his last rites were already done in Saudi Arabia itself without our permission. This has put us in further pain.”We believe all this was an elaborate plan to deprive us of compensation. There are so many questions unanswered.”Who gave them permission to bury [my husband] instead of repatriating [his] body? Witnesses say that the death was caused by electrocution.”With many deaths of workers wrongly classified as being natural, grieving families have received no compensation, the reports claim.Human Rights Watch’s director of Global Initiatives Minky Worden said: “The 2034 Saudi World Cup will be the largest and most expensive ever, but it could also have the highest cost in human lives, as millions of migrant workers build infrastructure, including 11 new stadiums, a rail and transit network, and 185,000 hotel rooms.”FIFA says it has a “steadfast commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights in the context of its operations”.The Neom stadium has been dubbed the ‘most unique stadium in the world’Credit: www.dezeen.comThe King Salman Stadium will be Saudi’s largest stadium and is due to host the World Cup finalCredit: www.dezeen.comThe Roshn Stadium has one of the most striking designs of all the 2034 venuesCredit: www.dezeen.comIn 2024, the Saudi government defended that there had been “tangible achievements” in occupational health and safety, claiming that the rates of deaths and injuries among workers were falling.And FIFA praised the alleged “significant steps” taken by Saudi Arabia to improve its labour laws since 2018.But the global construction worker’s union, or BWI, revealed there had been an “alarming rise” in accidents that could have been prevented.BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson said: “These are the result of systematic negligence, corruption and inadequate oversight and accountability.”And FairSquare’s co-director James Lynch has described FIFA’s human rights policies as a “sham”.He added: “While FIFA praises Saudi Arabia to the rafters and highly-paid western law firms generate vast profits for curating Saudi’s reputation, children in places like Nepal grow up without their fathers and never even learn how they died.”FIFA told Human Rights Watch of its plans to establish a workers’ welfare system to ensure mandatory standards and enforcement mechanisms are dedicated for construction related to the World Cup. as well as service delivery in Saudi Arabia.Football’s global governing body said: “We are convinced that the measures implemented to ensure construction companies respect the rights of their workers on FIFA World Cup sites can set a new standard for worker protection in the country and contribute to the wider labour reform process, helping to enhance protections for workers on World Cup sites and beyond.”But Human Rights Watch has slammed FIFA, saying no further details were given on how the so-called welfare system would actually work.The group said: “Saudi authorities, FIFA, and other employers should ensure that all migrant worker deaths, regardless of perceived cause, time, and place are properly investigated and that families of deceased workers are treated with dignity and receive fair and timely compensation.”Eight stadiums are being built in the capital Riyadh, four in Jeddah, and one in each of Al Khobar, Abha, and Neom.Neom is the brand new £1 trillion desert mega-city the county is planning to build from scratch – and half of which will be floating in the ocean.Read More on The SunThere have been concerns, however, that the city will not be finished in time.They are also promising to whip up the world’s biggest airport, King Fahd International Airport, which is due to open in 2030.It is thought the King Salman International Airport in Saudi Arabia will be the largest in the world when it opens in 2030Credit: Foster + Partners More