World Cup 2022: Qatar promises to act on newspaper claims

Qatar insist the 2022 World Cup will not be "built on the blood of innocents" following newspaper allegations about the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf state.

World governing body Fifa plans to discuss the issue in Zurich on Friday.
But Hassan Al Thawadi, head of Qatar's organising committee, said his organisation was addressing concerns.
"It's not a World Cup being built on the blood of innocents," he said. "That is unacceptable to anybody."

Analysis

David Bond BBC sports editor

Almost three years on from the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, questions and concerns just keep on growing.
However, one thing is already clear: Whenever or wherever the 2022 World Cup is played, Fifa's reputation and competence has once again been placed under the microscope.

• Read more of David's analysis here

He added that Qatar "will be eradicating these issues" and would retain its right to host the World Cup in 2022.

The Guardian investigation claims:

• At least 44 workers died between 4 June and 8 August, more than half because of heart-related issues or workplace accidents
• There is some evidence of forced labour on a major World Cup infrastructure project
• Nepalese men have not been paid for months, with salaries retained and passports confiscated to limit their movements
• Access to free drinking water on construction sites has been denied on some occasions

Fifa has already registered its concern at the report, but members of its powerful executive committee will discuss the issue in depth on Friday.
As executive members arrived for the start of their two-day meeting at Fifa headquarters in the Swiss city of Zurich, they were greeted by a group of trade unionists protesting outside the gates.

“I personally am convinced that we will have different conditions in Qatar in the future to the ones which we have at the moment”

Fifa spokesman Walter De Gregorio

Members of the Swiss union Unia were among those waving red cards to register their anger at the alleged poor treatment of migrant workers in Qatar.

"There can be no World Cup in Qatar without workers' rights and human rights being adhered to," said Unia spokesman Vasco Pedrina.
"Fifa has a great responsibility. That is why we are showing them the red card today. We are demanding that they intervene very strongly with the Qatari government."
In response, Fifa spokesman Walter De Gregorio said football's world governing body was taking the matter seriously and had been in talks with various trades unions and Human Rights Watch for "a long time".
He added: "We are aware of the problem and we take it very seriously. We are also in talks with the government in Qatar and are trying to assert the pressure that we can.
"I personally am convinced that we will have different conditions in Qatar in the future to the ones which we have at the moment."
Fifa's executive committee will also discuss whether the 2022 tournament should be switched from June and July because of the health risks to players and fans posed by the searing summer temperatures in Qatar.

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Bahrain GP suitability 'could be investigated' says FIA candidate

FIA presidential candidate David Ward would set up an investigation to establish whether Bahrain should hold a grand prix, if he is elected.

The event was cancelled in 2011 after civil unrest, but was reinstated last year by the current head of motorsport's governing body, Jean Todt.
But Ward said Todt was guilty of "poor decision-making".
"The important thing is to be neutral. What is merited is an investigatory visit," he said.

Who is David Ward?

Age: 57
Current roles: Executive secretary of independent commission for global road safety; secretary general of the Global New Car Assessment programme (NCAP), which defines safety standards in road cars
Past experience: Has worked for FIA for last 20 years in a number of roles, including:
Director general of the FIA Foundation (a charity supporting global road safety, the environment and sustainability and funding motorsport safety) from 2001-13 (resigned ahead of declaring he was running for the FIA presidency)
Secretary general FIA court of appeal 2001-6
Before joining the FIA, Ward was chief policy adviser to Labour leader John Smith from 1988-94.

"Look at things on the ground, talk to all sides as far as is possible and make a judgement based on that."

The Bahrain GP was cancelled two years ago after the unrest led to a violent suppression of protests and accusations that authorities had engaged in torture and other human rights abuses.
Todt sent the head of the Spanish motorsport federation on a fact-finding mission to the troubled Gulf state ahead of the reinstatement of the race in 2012 but his report was widely criticised.
Ward and Todt are the only candidates to have declared so far for the 6 December FIA election.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Sport, 58-year-old Englishman Ward said: "I think he was rather badly served in that mission. I felt sorry for him, actually."
Ward, a long-time adviser of former FIA president Max Mosley, said he would send "someone with expertise in the area" to Bahrain, citing as an example Edwin Glasgow QC, who chaired the Bloody Sunday inquiry into the actions of British security forces in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.

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