Gary Neville slams ‘staggering’ living conditions for Qatar World Cup workers
Gary Neville has blasted the living conditions for workers at the Qatar World Cup.
As part of a new Sky documentary, the Manchester United legend is seen shocked at the accommodation the workers who have built the new stadiums for the tournament have had to live in.
Speaking in the show, which is set to air on Sunday, Neville says: ‘It’s a portakabin with four curtains [sleeping areas] and two lockers on each side. The wealth in this country and that level of accommodation for people, with the sacrifice they are making. It’s just inequality like you would not believe. It’s staggering really. This is not a home.”
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But it is thought even the wretched conditions which Neville is shown are just the tip of the iceberg, with Amnesty International insisting the true life of workers behind Qatar's 2022 building effort will never be sought by ‘visiting journalists [who] go looking for evidence.'
Neville has spoken about his concerns about the wages workers receive, said to be £250 a month, reduced to a minuscule £50 a month given to the fact they send so much to their families back at home.
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He says: “I find it uncomfortable because when I buy a bowl of pasta and a beer or coffee, that’s a week’s wages. “If that was my son, my daughter, my brother, I would not want them to be in this position. The disparity is one of the largest gaps you will ever see and there’s no need for it because this is one of the wealthiest countries in the world.”
Last year a Guardian report suggested 6,500 migrant workers had died in Qatar since 2010 owing to the conditions there. In one case, Mohammad Shahid Miah, a 29-year-old worker from Bangladesh, died when water came in his room came into contact with an exposed electric cable, killing him by electrocution.
Meanwhile, England captain Harry Kane will wear the LGBT flag armband at the tournament – despite Qatar laws prohibiting same-sex sexual activity.
When Neville asks Hassan Al-Thawadi whether this would be an issue, the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee Thawadi responded: "It’s important to highlight first whether it’s a gay couple or otherwise. Public displays of affection are not part of our culture.”
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