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PARIS -- The three candidates campaigning to dislodge Sepp Blatter as FIFA president have outlined to the Associated Press their positions on one of the controversies surrounding the 2022 World Cup -- the plight of migrant labourers in Qatar. Hundreds of deaths and well-documented abuses of guest workers in the Gulf nation are priority issues for human rights campaigners but are barely figuring in the FIFA election debate. Blatter voiced his opinions last month after meeting Qatar's ruling Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, saying "progress has been made," but adding that more must be done "to ensure uniformly fair working conditions for all." The views of his challengers -- Luis Figo, Michael van Praag, and Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein -- have been less clear. Figo's and Van Praag's published manifestos make no mention of working conditions and rights of labourers working on World Cup stadiums and related infrastructure. The same goes for the initial nine-page programme published by Prince Ali, who told the AP he will be publishing a full manifesto "in the coming days." The AP sent seven questions about labour rights in Qatar to each of Blatter's challengers. Via his press team, Prince Ali provided by far the most exhaustive response, with detailed point-by-point replies to each question. He took a swipe at Blatter, saying the FIFA president has "a responsibility to show leadership on this issue. So far, I believe this leadership has been lacking." The FIFA vice president also said world football's governing body should introduce new safety standards to prevent "tragic incidents occurring during stadium construction and ensuring labour rights and fair working conditions." If elected on May 29, he committed to propose "clear guidelines that all host nations of FIFA events must adopt -- ensuring the safety and security of every worker employed to deliver FIFA's football projects." "There is evidence that progress is being made in Qatar with the new laws that ... are now being implemented," he added. "The 2022 World Cup should go ahead in Qatar as planned, and I believe that the Emir of Qatar is committed to delivering the positive social change and improvements to conditions for workers that the international community and FIFA are demanding." Van Praag's lengthy response included a commitment to "follow what happens in Qatar very closely." An advocate of expanding the World Cup to 40 teams, the Royal Dutch Football Association chief suggested that some matches could be played outside Qatar "so that the World Cup legacy and the labour rights situation improves beyond the border of one nation alone in that region." Van Praag said World Cup bid regulations should be rewritten to specifically include a section on human rights. He, too, said the 2022 tournament should stay with Qatar. "The best we can do is to make sure this World Cup is organised well and, together with the local organisation committee, do what we can to make sure the conditions are as good as possible. Qatar promised to improve and we want to make sure they do, which includes giving them all the assistance they require," he wrote. "I can't say at the moment if Mr Blatter and Qatar have done enough to ensure uniformly fair working conditions. I read their statements on the issue and apparent good intentions to improve the situation, but I don't have reliable information yet on the concrete results." Through his press handler, Figo responded with 85 words. Football authorities must look at labour rights "with the greatest attention," and "human rights are not negotiable and should be respected by every organisation in Qatar," the former Portugal international said. "I don't have detailed information on what exactly is happening in Qatar," he added. "But I believe FIFA has the obligation to investigate, inform, and act accordingly should a disrespect of labour rights [be] consistently found, directly or indirectly linked to one of its competitions." With a tiny and very wealthy native population of its own, Qatar relies on hundreds of thousands of labourers from India, Nepal and elsewhere to build the stadiums, subways and other infrastructure needed for the first World Cup in the Middle East. At Human Rights Watch, Gulf researcher Nicholas McGeehan was unconvinced about the candidates' sincerity. "With the apparent exception of Prince Ali, it seems Blatter and the other challengers are paying lip service to the issue out of necessity rather than outlining clear proposals to show how FIFA intends to exert its influence and ensure a real and lasting legacy on this issue," McGeehan said by email to the AP. After rights groups and labour unions decried working conditions there, Qatar committed to improvements, and FIFA started paying an interest. Qatar introduced additional rights and safeguards for labourers specifically engaged on World Cup projects. Rights groups are urging far deeper, swifter change, and the dismantlement of Qatar's controversial labour system that ties foreign workers to employers and has left them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Qatar last May announced plans for a new law that could eventually end the so-called "kafala" system, but has yet to follow through.
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