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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch World Cup squad will meet a gaggle of migrant staff in Qatar after a coaching session there forward of the crew’s first match as a part of the Dutch soccer federation’s push to advertise human rights on the match.
The Royal Dutch Soccer Affiliation, KNVB, introduced the plan Thursday night time.
“To begin with, we’re going to Qatar to turn out to be world champions, however after all we glance past soccer,” coach Louis van Gaal mentioned in a written assertion.
He mentioned that, as a crew, “we discover it essential to fulfill the individuals concerned. We subsequently invite them to our coaching to present them a pleasant reminiscence as effectively.”
At a information convention on Friday to unveil his World Cup squad, Van Gaal conceded that the assembly between the Dutch stars and the migrant staff was “contrived, as a result of usually that wouldn’t occur.”
However he defended the assembly, saying “the very fact we wish to do it says one thing concerning the ideas of the KNVB and that’s what it’s about.”
The announcement got here days after FIFA urged groups to concentrate on soccer on the World Cup, regardless of issues over attitudes in the direction of LGBTQ followers and the therapy of migrant staff. The Dutch federation mentioned it organized the assembly with 20 staff along with FIFA and a labor union.
Migrant laborers who constructed Qatar’s World Cup stadiums typically labored lengthy hours underneath harsh circumstances and had been subjected to discrimination, wage theft and different abuses as their employers evaded accountability, London-based rights group Equidem mentioned in a 75-page report launched Thursday.
Underneath heavy worldwide scrutiny, Qatar has enacted a lot of labor reforms in recent times which were praised by Equidem and different rights teams. However advocates say abuses are nonetheless widespread and that staff have few avenues for redress.
Qatari officers accuse critics of ignoring the reforms and making use of double-standards to the primary Arab or Muslim nation to host the match.
Ambet E. Yuson, normal secretary of the Constructing and Wooden Employees’ Worldwide union, mentioned migrant staff concerned in development tasks linked to the World Cup have had higher safety, however the identical can’t be mentioned for different staff in Qatar.
“Employers, typically with impunity, proceed to defy the regulation and breach the human rights of migrant staff. With the match approaching, progress on common human rights commonplace has turn out to be pressing,” Yuson mentioned.
The Netherlands, 3 times a World Cup runner-up, opens its marketing campaign in Qatar towards Senegal on Nov. 21. Van Gaal’s crew additionally performs Ecuador and the host nation within the group stage.
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AP World Cup protection: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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