Buried bodies found at 2022 World Cup stadium

Months ago, migrant Workers in Qatar accidently found three buried bodies while making modifications to a back post at Lucille Stadium, north of Doha.

The bodies were dressed as workers at the stadium. After searching their clothes, two of them were identified as Indian workers, while the third was a Nepalese.

One worker said “the three workers disappeared suddenly in mysterious circumstances nearly a year ago, as they were absent from work without notice and did not return to camps to collect their belongings” . “Everyone thought that they had escaped the harsh living conditions linked to construction of 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar”, he added.

According to the source, the workers reported the bodies and informed the site management, then they saw a black car without number plates and four masked individuals wearing COVID-like protective suits, same as those of the Ministry of Public Health

The workers present in the area were firmly instructed to hush up to protect themselves from criminal liability for the killing of the three workers. The workers felt intimidated and kept their mouth shot, as they could be framed for it. The incident that took place on Wednesday morning at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha remained sealed and unnoticed.

More than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup 10 years ago, the Guardian can reveal.

The findings, compiled from government sources, mean an average of 12 migrant workers from these five south Asian nations have died each week since the night in December 2010 when the streets of Doha were filled with ecstatic crowds celebrating Qatar’s victory.

Data from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka revealed there were 5,927 deaths of migrant workers in the period 2011–2020. Separately, data from Pakistan’s embassy in Qatar reported a further 824 deaths of Pakistani workers, between 2010 and 2020.

The total death toll is significantly higher, as these figures do not include deaths from a number of countries which send large numbers of workers to Qatar, including the Philippines and Kenya. Deaths that occurred in the final months of 2020 are also not included.

In the past 10 years, Qatar has embarked on an unprecedented building programme, largely in preparation for the football tournament in 2022. 

In addition to seven new stadiums, dozens of major projects have been completed or are under way, including a new airport, roads, public transport systems, hotels and a new city, which will host the World Cup final.

While death records are not categorized by occupation or place of work, it is likely many workers who have died were employed on these World Cup infrastructure projects.