Saudi Arabia’s minister of sport, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, insisted workers’ safety was being taken “seriously” and that an investigation had been launched over the death of a migrant worker during construction of a stadium for the 2034 World Cup.
Besix Group, a construction company overseeing the site of Aramco Stadium in Al Khobar, told media outlets last month that “a worker sadly lost their life” at the construction site on March 12.
The Guardian reported that Muhammad Arshad, from Pakistan, had fallen to his death from an upper level.
“Every incident we take seriously, we file an investigation, we look at what went wrong,” Al-Faisal told reporters ahead of Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix. “Unfortunately in construction, these things happen. We don’t want them to happen. But you can take, for instance, Diriyah; they have around 35,000 workers, and I think it was 20 months or something like that without any issues happening to any of their labor.
“But we take that seriously. As soon as it was highlighted, we filed an investigation, we checked what is happening, we make sure that they put the right system in and make sure that it doesn’t happen again at Aramco Stadium. And we supervise it with the contractors and so on to make sure that they deliver on these things to make sure that we deliver on our commitment, as well, to the world.”
Saudi Arabia was officially confirmed as host of the 2034 World Cup in December after a mostly opaque 15-month bid process that FIFA president Gianni Infantino helped steer toward Saudi Arabia without a rival candidate and without taking questions. Human rights groups warned that the decision will put the lives of migrant workers at risk.
FIFA and Saudi officials have said hosting the 2034 tournament can accelerate change, including more freedoms and rights for women, with Infantino calling the World Cup a “unique catalyst for positive social change and unity.”
“I fully trust our hosts to address all open points in this process and deliver a World Cup that meets the world’s expectations,” the FIFA president said.
An international collective of rights groups said at the time that FIFA made a “reckless decision” to approve Saudi Arabia without getting public assurances, and the Football Supporters Europe group said it was “the day football truly lost its mind.”
Similar criticism over the treatment of migrant workers cast a shadow over more than a decade of preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“We’ve learned from that,” Al-Faisal said. “We met with the Qataris, what they’ve been through, what they’ve gone through. We have ongoing communication with them, with FIFA, as well, on what needs to be done, how do we make sure that workers’ safety is a highest priority.
“And it’s a mandate on us, and it’s one of the most important things on us because we saw the impact that it had on Qatar.”
Information from ESPN’s Laurence Edmondson and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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