BBC Learnings · Section 1

Qatar's World Cup workers

Every four years, the best players in the world gather for one month in the summer

Level: B1 · 113 sentences

Transcript

  1. Every four years,
  2. the best players in the world gather for one month in the summer
  3. to take part in the biggest event in football the World Cup.
  4. But this year, for the first time ever,
  5. the competition is taking place in winter.
  6. Why? Because the 2022 World Cup is happening in Qatar.
  7. Over a million fans from all over the world are expected to
  8. visit Qatar for the World Cup,
  9. which starts on the 20th November.
  10. Because temperatures in Qatar exceed 45 degrees in the summer,
  11. the competition was moved to the winter.
  12. But the decision to hold the World Cup in the tiny,
  13. oil-rich Gulf state has been controversial.
  14. One of the richest countries in the world,
  15. Qatar has no tradition of playing football
  16. and some have criticised the focus on money instead of sport.
  17. And there are other criticisms too about human rights
  18. and the treatment of the migrant construction workers
  19. who built the football stadiums,
  20. roads, transport systems and hotels,
  21. without which the World Cup could not happen.
  22. In this programme, we'll be asking,
  23. is it right for Qatar to host the World Cup.
  24. And of course,
  25. we'll be learning some new and useful vocabulary as well.
  26. But before that, I have a question for you, Beth.
  27. Which country has won the World Cup the most times?
  28. Is it a Italy, b Brazil, or c Germany?
  29. I think it must be Brazil.
  30. OK, I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme.
  31. Advertising for the Qatar World Cup shows football fans
  32. staying in new hotels and watching matches in air-conditioned stadiums.
  33. But hidden behind this, the lives of the migrant workers from Nepal,
  34. India and other South Asian countries reveal a very different story.
  35. The population of Qatar is tiny
  36. and 95% of the total workforce are foreigners
  37. working in extreme heat, housed in poor quality accommodation and often underpaid.
  38. Rotna Begum, a researcher for Human Rights Watch,
  39. explained their situation to BBC World Service programme Business Daily.
  40. We're still recording and documenting migrant workers facing abuse
  41. and exploitation in Qatar.
  42. They include workers reporting having paid exorbitant
  43. and illegal recruitment fees to secure work brought on two-year contracts
  44. and then finding out they're coming on three-month visas,
  45. which means that they're not able to make up or recruit
  46. the price that they've paid to actually get this job
  47. and may well be sent home
  48. in debt on top of everything else.
  49. Migrant workers face exploitation.
  50. Exploitation means treating someone unfairly to get some advantage for yourself.
  51. Many of the World Cup workers were exploited by being paid less than agreed,
  52. being paid late or not being paid at all.
  53. The construction jobs seemed a good opportunity for migrant workers to save
  54. money to send home to their families.
  55. Many paid exorbitant fees.
  56. Fees which were much bigger than they should be
  57. just to get a job in Qatar.
  58. But despite being given two-year job contracts,
  59. some workers were only allowed to stay three months.
  60. Because they couldn't make enough money, many returned home in debt,
  61. owing money to someone that they will have to pay back.
  62. What's worse, many have died building the football stadiums
  63. in accidents or due to overwork and heat stress.
  64. So with all this criticism,
  65. Added to the billions of dollars Qatar spent preparing for the competition,
  66. was it worth it?
  67. James Dorsey is an expert on the politics of football in the Middle East.
  68. Here, he explains to BBC World Service's Business Daily that for Qatar,
  69. hosting the World Cup is more about improving its international reputation than economics.
  70. But this is not about economics for Qatar.
  71. Qatar is a small state.
  72. It is sandwiched between two regional behemoths.
  73. Saudi Arabia and Iran.
  74. And so its whole policy is geared towards soft power,
  75. whether that's sports, whether that's the airport and the airline.
  76. Qatar may be rich thanks to its oil,
  77. but it's not a large country unlike neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Iran
  78. countries which James Dorsey called behemoths
  79. something which is extremely large and powerful.
  80. Qatar is sandwiched between these larger countries.
  81. If you're sandwiched between two things,
  82. you're in a narrow, tight space between them.
  83. Because Qatar isn't as powerful as its bigger neighbours,
  84. it uses soft power.
  85. The way a country uses its economic
  86. and cultural influence to persuade other countries, instead of using military power.
  87. Hosting an important international event like the World Cup
  88. is a part of Qatar's soft power strategy
  89. to be considered an important country on the world stage.
  90. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the debate,
  91. this will be the first Arab nation to host the World Cup,
  92. although it's unlikely that the Qatari team will actually win,
  93. unlike a more famous footballing nation, Italy,
  94. who won their first World Cup they hosted in 1934.
  95. And speaking of World Cup winners,
  96. What was the answer to your question, Neil?
  97. Which country has won the most World Cups?
  98. I guessed it was Brazil.
  99. Which was the correct answer, of course, with five title wins.
  100. Brazil is the most successful World Cup team,
  101. followed closely by Italy and Germany with four titles each.
  102. OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned starting with exploitation
  103. treating someone unfairly in order to benefit yourself.
  104. If the price of something is exorbitant,
  105. it's much higher than it should be.
  106. A debt is an amount of money that you
  107. owe to someone else.
  108. A behemoth refers to something which is extremely large and powerful.
  109. And if you are sandwiched between two things,
  110. you're in a tight, narrow space between them.
  111. And finally, soft power describes strategies
  112. used by a country to increase its power through economic
  113. and cultural influences, instead of fighting wars.