Ten European federations ask FIFA to enforce "human rights" in Qatar

FRANKFURT (GERMANY), Nov. 6 (dpa/EP) -

The football federations of Germany, Belgium, Denmark, England, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales have asked FIFA to respect human rights, which are "universal", at the World Cup in Qatar, after that the governing body of world football could make the players leave aside "politics" in the appointment.

The ten national federations affirmed in an open letter that they will continue to support a compensation fund for migrant workers in Qatar. "FIFA has repeatedly committed to giving concrete answers on the compensation fund for migrant workers and the concept of a center for migrant workers to be created in Doha and we will continue to push for them to be fulfilled," they said.

Last Friday, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, sent a letter to the 32 participants in the World Cup in Qatar asking them to focus on the tournament and "not allow football to be dragged into all the ideological or political battles that exist".

The ten aforementioned federations replied this Sunday that they are pleased that "Qatar has made significant progress" in terms of labor legislation and that guarantees have been given "in terms of the safety, protection and inclusion of all fans traveling to the World Cup, including LGBTQ fans."

But they insisted that "embracing diversity and tolerance also means supporting human rights." "Human rights are universal and apply everywhere," they stressed. "We will continue to support the momentum for positive and progressive change and will continue to advocate for a conclusive outcome and an update on the two key outstanding issues that we have been discussing with FIFA for a long time," they added.