Qatar agrees to key campaign demands After years of campaigning, in which Playfair Qatar and its supporters played their part, Qatar appears to have done the right thing. In a potentially…Read more…
Workers stranded in diplomatic stand-off as Qatar and Saudi Arabia square up
As wealthy Gulf states face off over long simmering diplomatic differences, foreign workers in both countries are at risk of bearing the brunt of the dispute. An ongoing row in the Gulf over Qatar’s…Read more…
Alternative Facts
There’s a reason we don’t trust Qatar when they tell us we’re wrong about the prediction of 4,000 deaths before the 2022 World Cup. It’s because they can’t stop themselves hiding, misrepresenting or…Read more…
Qatar fails to prove progress as international community keeps up threat of investigation
A huge push from the World Cup 2022 hosts has failed to convince the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that it has done enough to protect workers from serious abuse. In our campaign film, Foul…Read more…
Actions speak louder than laws
Qatar’s new labour laws will not end abuse, warns Amnesty, and FIFA must act to force real change. Hot on the heels of the deal between Qatar’s World Cup “Supreme Committee” and the international…Read more…
Foul Play
Last month, Playfair Qatar released our campaign video showing the unfairness and injustice at the heart of the push to get Qatar ready to host the 2022 World Cup. Of course, as much as we hope the…Read more…
Amnesty International report finds abuse still rife as Qatar & FIFA make excuses
Amnesty International has poured cold water on Qatar’s claims to be protecting workers on FIFA World Cup projects, exposing a litany of abuses faced by people refitting the Khalifa International…Read more…
Slave-state Qatar faces ILO investigation
Today, the UN’s workplace agency, the tripartite International Labour Organisation (ILO) voted to send a high level mission to Qatar to make an assessment of the real conditions faced by migrant…Read more…
Qatar wants us to check our facts – it’s time they let us
Next month Qatar has a chance to put its disputed record on workers’ rights to the test When Zaha Hadid, architect of Qatar’s under-construction Al Wakrah football stadium, lashed out at the BBC last…Read more…
Qatar’s worker reforms at end of rainbow disappear again
It’s slowly dawning on us, here at Playfair Qatar, that the Gulf state hasn’t really hired London’s Portland Communications to do its PR, but has in fact engaged Derren Brown. The latest…Read more…
At the summit
There wasn’t time to answer all the questions from the floor. The fans got stuck in to our panel at the football Supporters’ Summit, where the Football Supporters’ Federation had…Read more…
Qatar’s council cancels kafala changes
Qatar’s failure to push through its long mooted reforms to the insidious kafala system has left the country’s attempt to portray itself as a slow moving but sincere reformer in tatters. In May 2014,…Read more…
Tartan Army calls on Qatar to Play Fair this Friday
Are you going to be in Edinburgh on Friday evening? Know anyone who will be? We need people who care about the exploitation being suffered by migrant workers in Qatar to help us protest at the…Read more…
Qatar 2022: Will VISA statement prove costly for Sepp Blatter’s FIFA?
On Monday, the TUC’s Playfair Qatar campaign joined forces with an eclectic group of campaigners. The ITUC, New FIFA Now and SKINS Official Non-Sponsor, all with a track record of speaking out…Read more…
The Hypocrisy World Cup? FIFA sponsors silent on Qatar abuses
62 workers may lose their lives for each game played during Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, a tournament likely to be sponsored by FIFA partner companies Coke, VISA, McDonald’s, Adidas, Kia and Hyundai….Read more…
Top down reform can never move fast enough to save lives in Qatar – that’s why trade unions are needed
Only free Trade Unions can stop thousands dying in Qatar. We’ll be honest. Very occasionally our campaign partners and volunteers don’t quite understand one of our key demands of Qatar. The right to…Read more…
Qatar’s Inaction Replay
It’s a strange tactic to take the anniversary of a promise you didn’t keep to make exactly the same promise. One year ago, with great fanfare, Qatar’s government promised the world…Read more…
News roundup: Qatar under attack! Sort of.
It’s never reassuring when anyone, having been caught doing something bad, apologises, promises to fix things, but then starts telling everyone else that you’re being really unfair on…Read more…
Qatar asks for patience – to perfect its PR strategy
Qatar seems to be confused about what message to put out to its critics, simultaneously accusing them of a conspiracy whilst also meekly asking for more time to put an end to the abuse of migrant…Read more…
Striking workers in Qatar find labour laws finally working – against them
If you ever needed proof of Qatar’s one-sided refereeing, this is it The reason “Play by the Rules” is one of our ‘Playfair Qatar’ campaign demands is that Qatar could make life better for its 1.5m…Read more…