For thousands of low-paid workers, this year’s games brought back only memories of abuse and exploitation
Naresh Shrestha, a construction manager who also worked on Lusail stadium, has a very different view. “I am proud that I was part of the construction of that iconic stadium. The Nepali team [of workers] did very well,” he says. “The World Cup has very much improved working conditions in Qatar. Some rules were changed to benefit workers. It’s very good now.”
When Magar set out for Qatar in 2021, he expected to be there for at least two years. Already in debt in Nepal, he says he took out more loans to pay a recruitment agent about 135,000 rupees for the job in Qatar. He spent eight months working on Stadium 974, the temporary arena that won praise for its innovative design, before he was suddenly sent home.
Magar is caught in a spiral of debt, and has now returned to Qatar – once again paying his own way – in a desperate attempt to repay what he owes. He has bad recollections of his time working on the stadium. He says whenever the local World Cup organising committee came for inspections his employer would tell them not to say anything negative. Only the workers who were not likely to raise problems were put in front of the inspectors.
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