A Mural Celebrated Migrant Workers. When the World Cup Began, It Was Gone.

On Thursday, hours before Brazil’s opening game of the tournament inside Lusail stadium, laborers continued their work nearby, building an apartment complex. Several said they had seen the mural of the workers’ faces before it was obscured but were unaware it had now been removed. But regardless, they said they would not be attending games during the World Cup.

“It’s just crass and disrespectful to put these men in the spotlight when it suits you and then completely obscure their role by painting over it,” said Nicholas McGeehan, the co-director of Fair Square, a human rights group that focuses on the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar.

“I hate to use ‘virtue signaling,’ but it seems appropriate in this instance, highlighting the sacrifice of workers when it suits you from a public relations perspective and removing them from the picture when they cease to be useful.”

Qatar, like most other countries in the Persian Gulf, relies heavily on migrant workers. Almost 90 percent of the country’s population are foreigners.

“The World Cup would not have been possible without them,” McGeehan added of migrant workers. “They build and sustain everything. If they disappeared tomorrow, the country would cease to function.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/sports/soccer/mural-migrant-workers-world-cup.html