'Unacceptable': World Cup winner's human rights plea for Qatar

Sports Reporter

Wed, 31 Mar 2021, 10:20 pm·2-min read

Toni Kroos (pictured left) during a Champions League match and a worker (pictured right) on the WC in Qatar. — Toni Kroos (pictured left) has ripped into Qatar after reports suggested up to 6,500 migrant workers (a worker on the WC in Qatar pictured right) had died during the preparations for the 2022 World Cup. (Getty Images)

World Cup winner Toni Kroos has hit out at the conditions in Qatar following a report of the human rights violations in regards to preparations for the tournament.

A Guardian report last week claimed more than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since the beginning of preparations fro the 2022 World Cup.

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The report sent shockwaves through the football world with Norway making a stand after revealing t-shirts that read: "Human rights on, and off the pitch."

The German national team joined in on the protest after they stood together with the words 'Human Rights' across their t-shirts.

Now, Real Madrid midfielder Kroos has slammed the reported conditions facing workers in the Arab country.

"You have to call a spade a spade when it comes to working conditions. It's about many workers from Qatar, but also migrant workers, having to work non-stop in sometimes 50 degree heat," he said on his own podcast.

"At the same time, they also suffer from malnutrition, a lack of drinking water is insane, especially at these temperatures. As a result, safety at work is absolutely not guaranteed, medical care is not there and sometimes some violence is carried out on the workers.

“All those points are absolutely unacceptable. There can be no two opinions on that."

Kroos against World Cup boycott

However, Kroos stopped short of boycotting the World Cup in Qatar after claiming it wouldn't force change in the country.

"What is the point of boycotting such a tournament? Is it really the case that something will improve decisively there? Will the working conditions change? I think not," he added.

Players of Germany wear t-shirts which spell out "Human Rights" prior to the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar qualifying match between Germany and Iceland on March 25, 2021 in Duisburg, Germany. (Photo by Tobias Schwarz - Pool/Getty Images)

"That means that a boycott would not change much in the working situations. To award the tournament to them, I think it's wrong. But 10 years have passed since.

"Football can and must draw attention to problems, especially with its reach. But football also is not solely responsible for making everything better in the world."

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