Fifa refusing to engage on Saudi worries, claims union

Fifa has been accused for a second time of failing to engage with concerns over human rights risks in Saudi Arabia, two months before the Gulf state is expected to be confirmed as a World Cup host.

- Paul MacInnes

The Building and Wood Workers' International, a trade union that has worked with Fifa on governance reforms, says it has been ignored in attempts to discuss the exploitation of foreign workers in Saudi.

In June the BWI submitted a complaint to the International Labour Organisation that claimed "an epidemic of abuses" against migrant workers in the Gulf kingdom. Among the examples cited was the case of thousands of Filipino workers who are said to be waiting for financial remedy from the Saudi state after they were denied wages, often over periods of years, by their former employers. The BWI says numerous subsequent requests to Fifa "to engage in dialogue about these abuses and to set stringent conditions for hosting" have not been taken up.