Enlarge image
Master Malmö FF also supports the appeal of the human rights organization
Photo: MATHIAS BERGELD / imago images / Bildbyran
The 32 clubs of the top Swedish football leagues Allsvenskan and Superettan join an appeal by the human rights organization Amnesty International calling for better conditions for migrant workers in Qatar.
The Swedish elite football association announced.
The appeal is addressed to the world football association Fifa: »Fifa has a clear responsibility to act when workers who contribute to World Cup projects are exposed to work-related violations.
That is why Amnesty is showing FIFA the red card and calling on them to use their influence to protect all immigrant workers who make the World Cup possible, ”the organization said on the Swedish website.
In Sweden alone, more than 20,000 people had signed the appeal by Thursday noon, including the managers of the football clubs.
According to Amnesty, guest workers in Qatar are often victims of wage theft. An evaluation by the Guardian in February also showed that more than 6,500 workers in Qatar have died since the World Cup was awarded to the emirate in 2011 - 37 of them to the World Cup construction sites.
"We can no longer influence where the World Cup finals will be held," said Jens Andersson, the chairman of the Swedish League Association, according to a statement.
"But we can exert pressure and show FIFA that we already considered the decision to be unacceptable when it was made and that FIFA must therefore take more responsibility for the situation on the ground."
cev / dpa