The final countdown to football’s next World Cup in November 2022 has started. But despite introducing important legal reforms, Qatar has still not delivered on its promise to end labour abuses and exploitation of its more than two million migrant workers. This report demonstrates that the past year has seen an actual erosion of newly protected migrant workers’ rights, with old abusive practices resurfacing, reviving the worst elements of the kafala sponsorship system and undermining reforms. The government has failed to rigorously implement the changes, throwing into doubt the pledge by key stakeholders that the World Cup would be a game changer for migrant workers in Qatar.
