Home » Freedom United Launches Qatar World Cup Campaign Highlighting Stadium Worker Deaths Via Fledge

18 November, 2022

Freedom United Launches Qatar World Cup Campaign Highlighting Stadium Worker Deaths Via Fledge

Anti-modern slavery group, Freedom United, has launched “Every Fall Of The Players During The World Cup Is A Reminder Of Those Who Fell Constructing It,” a short campaign film highlighting migrant worker deaths in Qatar.

The film, just over a minute long, was produced by Belgian company Fledge and features footballers with pixelated faces and faceless migrant workers falling to the ground.

Around 6,500 workers are thought to have died building the stadiums which will host the games at this year’s World Cup, due to kick off on Sunday.

Freedom United’s film sheds light on the brutal reality that lies behind the Qatar World Cup, by claiming that each fall to the ground of the football players reflects an act of protest to commemorate the workers that fell during the construction of this World Cup.

Freedom United said the campaign encourages football fans to raise their voices about the issues with the Qatar World Cup. The group said that its more than 100,000 members – the world’s largest community taking action against modern slavery – have called on Qatar to implement legislation to protect migrant workers from forced labour in the future.

As part of the #PayUpFIFA campaign, more than 5,000 in the Freedom United community are also urgently calling on national Football Associations to support growing pressure on FIFA to set up a compensation fund of at least US$440 million – equivalent to the tournament’s prize money – for exploited migrant workers and the families of those who have died.

“What is sad to see in this story is the fact that this tragedy was preventable,” said Diederik Jeangout, creative partner at Fledge.

“As communication filmmakers it’s our job to take a step back, analyze why and how this all happened, and to condense this multi-layered societal issue into a core message that touches people. By finding a new twist on a story that has been told many times before but had the risk of losing people’s interest, we think this cheeky campaign appeals to a new audience that isn’t necessarily involved currently in large-scale human-rights
issues.”

“Migrant workers in Qatar have suffered horrendous human rights abuses in bringing us the World Cup. It has come at too high a cost,” said Miriam Karmali, advocacy manager at Freedom United.

“Thousands have reported dire working conditions and exploitation amounting to forced labour. FIFA is expected to rake in billions from the tournament so setting up a compensation fund for exploited workers and the families of those who have died is the least they can do. Qatar must now ensure measures to protect migrant workers from exploitation are effectively enforced and felt by workers on the ground. We hope through sharing this video we can raise awareness of migrant workers’ experiences and keep building pressure on Qatar and FIFA to do the right thing.”

Credits
Production company: Fledge
Creative Partner: Diederik Jeangout
Managing Partner: Roeland Jeangout
Director: Maria Leon
3D artist: Bondo
Sound Studio: Sonhouse
Music: The Blaze

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