The shocking death toll in Qatar for the World Cup

[FLPanhandle]

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1484

Absolutely insane

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/27/a-body-count-in-qatar-illustrates-the-consequences-of-fifa-corruption/

FIFA, the notoriously corrupt and yet seemingly invincible governing body of world soccer, has finally landed itself an indictment that some would say is worthy of its reputation. The charges against a handful of senior FIFA officials include money laundering, racketeering, bribery and fraud. In short, the federal lawsuit alleges what millions of soccer fans have suspected all along: that FIFA officials have been using the organization's massive influence to line their pocketbooks.

On the surface, it's just another white collar crime story: rich, powerful men making themselves richer and more powerful. But a closer look suggests that there is a lot of real-world suffering happening as a direct result of FIFA's decisions.

For the most obvious example of this, look to Qatar. The decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the rich Gulf state with a terrible human rights record was a controversial one right out of the gate. There have been extensive allegations of bribery: why else, some figured, award the Cup to a tiny country with sweltering summer heat and no soccer culture to speak of?

[daleanime]

1. Hell yes....

[scoutiu]

2. That's why I am only following...

...the NFL, NBA, MLB, professional golf and tennis, US college football and basketball, and horse and Indycar racing.

Soccer sucks for lots of reasons.

[BrotherIvan]

3. They should go after the Olympic Committee next

Same amount of notorious graft. And nasty things going on in Sochi.

But I do wish our DOJ and FBI spent as much time on banks, torturers and war criminals. Sigh.

[SwankyXomb]

4. Every single one of those deaths

should be laid directly on the head of Sepp Blatter and the FIFA sponsors.

[MattSh]

5. What you pasted makes it look so cut and dried...

but what about this paragraph?

In the chart below, I've compared those fatality numbers for Qatar with worker fatality estimates for other major international sporting events in recent years. Some of these numbers (like Sochi's) are third-party estimates, others (like Beijing's) are based on official numbers that are almost certainly an undercount. And it's tough to do an apples-to-apples comparison here, since the Qatar estimates include the deaths of all migrant workers after the announcement of Qatar's successful bid in 2010, while other countries' figures may only include deaths directly related to, say, stadium construction.

So basically, the Beijing numbers may be undercounts, the Sochi numbers, an undercount or an overcount, while the Qatar numbers are definitely an overcount.

While all workers deaths are a tragedy, one should be careful to compare apples to apples, which the authors of this article admit they probably are not doing.

[KamaAina]

6. Update: Figures include all migrant worker deaths in Qatar

not just World Cup-related ones.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/120455149#post1