Official figures from the Qatari government and the world football association FIFA speak of three deaths during the construction of all eight world cup stadiums. All three “official deaths” occurred on building sites where the Belgian company Besix was the main contractor. Besix is one of the main sponsors of the Belgian national team, the Red Devils.
Qatar’s 3 official construction site deaths on 'Belgian' building sites
Colin Clapson
Published:
When Besix becomes one of the Red Devils’ main sponsors the company is involved in two world cup projects in the emirate: the renovation of the Khalifa International stadium and the construction of the Al Janoub stadium. Besix’s operations are headed by Six Construct, the entity it established for activities in the Middle East.
Work started in 2014. In 2016 Amnesty International released a report on working conditions at Khalifa International. The report lists practically all the forms of abuse linked to the kafala employment system operated in Qatar: corrupt hiring officers, lies about wages, late payment of wages, forced employment, the seizure of passports, threats and excessive work days, etc. Six Construct responds by saying it intervened six months earlier and halted contracts with the worst subcontractors.
In October 2016 a 29-year-old Nepali labourer is hit by a truck at the Al Janoub stadium. It’s billed as a tragic work accident. The labourer dies.
In 2017 a 40-year-old British scaffolder is killed in the Khalifa stadium when he falls from scaffolding. At the time the scaffolding was going up but a chain hoist breaks. The platform the Briton was standing on collapses and the worker falls 40 metres to his death. His safety belt and rope can’t take the strain. The Briton suffers serious chest and head wounds and dies in hospital.
In 2018 a 23-year-old scaffolder from Nepal falls to his death after he fails to notice a plank on a walkway has been removed.
Besix confirms and regrets the deaths. It says the deaths occurred during a work period of 5 years representing 100 million work hours by Besix workers and subcontractors. The death rate is lower than the average recorded in the building sector in Belgium. 52 fatal deaths were recorded on Belgian building sites between 2017 and 2020 when 1.1 billion work hours were performed.
The company also points to regular evaluations of its work conditions and worker living conditions by the Qatari authorities.
Both Qatar and FIFA stick to the official 3 deaths total. This contrasts with an investigation conducted by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper that speaks of 6,500 deaths on world cup-related building projects between 2010 and 2020. The UN international labour organisation , ILO, confirmed 50 deaths in 2020 alone.