By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Managing Editor Impunity Watch

DOHA, Qatar – On Monday Theo Zwanziger, Executive Committee member for the Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) suggested that the Committee may choose to remove the 2022 World Cup from Qatar, which has been preparing for the games for years.  According to the FIFA official the decision will come down to one factor: Extreme heat. However, if true, the decision to strip Qatar of the World Cup followed months of international criticism of the Gulf State’s treatment of migrant workers and complaints of slave labor conditions for workers at the World Cup sites.

Theo Zwanziger, the former German soccer association (DFB) chief said that the most widely watched tournament in sports will have to be held somewhere else due to health concerns over the extreme heat that players will experience in the Qatari desert. “I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar,” he said. “Medics say that they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions.”

Qatar remains adamant that it will host the 2022 World Cup. “The only question now is when, not if,” Qatar 2022 communications director Nasser Al Khater said in a statement. He added “summer or winter, we will be ready.” The oil-rich Gulf state insists that it will be able to use state of the art cooling technologies currently being developed for stadiums, training areas and fan zones. However, there FIFA officials still cite concerns over the health of players and fans; “they may be able to cool the stadiums but a World Cup does not take place only there,” Zwanziger said. “Fans from around the world will be coming and traveling in this heat and the first life-threatening case will trigger an investigation by a state prosecutor. That is not something that FIFA Exco members want to answer for.”

Labor rights activists have raised concerns about dangerous working conditions and have made allegations about unpaid salaries and other abuses of workers’ rights. The Qatari economy is heavily dependent on large numbers of low-paid migrant workers, many of whom ar brought from Asia.

Two weeks ago the Qatari government confirmed that it is holding two British citizens who went missing while researching migrant labor conditions in the country, saying that the men are being questioned about possible illegal activities in the country. The confirmation came after Amnesty International urged authorities to reveal the men’s whereabouts and insure their safety. The Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development reported that the two British citizens, a researcher, Krishna Upadhyaya, 52, and a photographer, Ghimire Gundev, 36, went missing on Aug. 31 as they were preparing to leave the country.

While at least one high ranking FIFA officials believes Qatar will be stripped of its hosting duties for the 2022 FIFA World Cup because of concerns over extreme heat, the organization has faced criticism for choosing the Gulf State to host the games despite concerns over human rights abuses in the country. Any decision by FIFA to remove the tournament from Qatar on the bases of temperature concerns will likely be interpreted as an attempt by FIFA save face as the organization has been continually criticized by activists as new allegations of abuses in Qatar continue to surface.

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Qatar Won’t Host the World Cup: FIFA Official – 22 September 2014

Fortune – FIFA May Pull 2022 World Cup from Qatar ‘On Medical Grounds’ – Exec – 22 September 2014

Reuters – Qatar Adamant it will Host 2022 World Cup Despite Doubts – 22 September 2014

The New York Times – Officials in Qatar Confirm Detention of Britons – 8 September 2014