Qatar under growing pressure over workers' deaths as Fifa is urged to act

(Guardian) International pressure on Qatar to prevent exploitation of migrant workers in the buildup to the 2022 football World Cup escalated on Wednesday as victims' groups and the United Nations urged the game's governing body to act to halt a death toll that is already in the hundreds.

As the executive committee of Fifa convened in Zurich for two days of talks including a session on Qatar's preparations for the biggest sporting event ever to be held in the Middle East, the Uefa president, Michel Platini, said he was "much more concerned" with allegations over the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf state than with discussions over whether to move the tournament to winter.

The British government also renewed pressure on Qatar, with the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, saying it should be "a precondition of the delivery of every major sports event that the very highest standards of health and safety are applied".

Unions have warned that labour conditions in the country could result in as many as 4,000 deaths before a ball is kicked. Representatives of the families of migrant workers already killed and injured on building sites in the Gulf state called on Fifa to hand the tournament to another country, unless the Doha leadership can quickly guarantee worker safety.

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