The Business of Events Management

Workers often remain in very vulnerable positions.

October 19 – US Soccer has become the latest football federation to support a compensation fund for migrant workers in Qatar.
The American governing body has come out in support of a remediation programme for migrant workers in Qatar who have suffered human rights abuses. Earlier this year, human rights groups and NGOs called on FIFA and Qatar to offer workers compensation to the tune of $440 million, the equivalent of the prize money at stake during the World Cup. Read more …

August 24 – With just months to go until the kick-off of the World Cup, hosts Qatar have deported 60 migrant workers after they protested against unpaid wages, some of whom said they had not been paid for seven months.
The workers rallied outside the Doha offices of Al Bandary, a construction and engineering company, on August 14.
In a statement to the BBC, the Qatari government said that those who were deported had “breached security laws”.

Guardian analysis indicates shocking figure likely to be an underestimate, as preparations for 2022 tournament continue

The local organising committee for the 2016 summer Olympic Games is facing legal action from hundreds of staff who claim they have yet to be paid for their work at the event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Undocumented migrant workers have revealed they have been underpaid by subcontractors who are delivering infrastructure work for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

September 29 – German players will bank €400,000 if they win the World Cup in Qatar.
The tournament bonuses for the team were agreed after negotiations with the players. “We had intense discussions in a good and constructive atmosphere,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf following a meeting with team representatives Manuel Neuer, Thomas Mueller, Joshua Kimmich and Ilkay Guendogan. “At the end of the day, we have found an acceptable solution for everyone.”
The Germans will get 400,000 euros if they bring the trophy home for a fifth time.

The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music is urging the government to amend proposed immigration legislation that would affect music industry workers

November 16 – Widely criticised over the treatment of migrant workers employed on construction sites, organisers of the World 2022 in Qatar have given the green light for its stadiums to be inspected by officials of the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), a global federation of some 300 trade unions in the building industry that has a combined membership of more than 12 million workers.
Inspections will begin in January 2017 and will cover labour and accommodation inspections on world cup projects. Read more …