'FIFA not responsible for Qatar's migrant workers' says president Sepp Blatter

FIFA president Sepp Blatter does not believe his governing body is responsible for the welfare of migrant workers building World Cup stadiums in Qatar.

Since the Gulf nation began building the tournament’s infrastructure, thousands of migrant workers are reported to have died in sub-standard conditions.

Amnesty International warned last month that steps to improve Qatar’s ‘kafala’ system, in which migrant workers are tied to their employers and must seek permission to exit the country, were still “woefully insufficient”.

And speaking to reporters in Sri Lanka, one of the countries which has supplied a large amount of migrant workers to Qatar along with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines, Blatter distanced FIFA from any liability.

"In Qatar they are working in big companies from Germany, France, England and other European countries and they are responsible for their workers – not FIFA," Blatter said.

More than 1.6 million foreign workers are employed in Qatar, where they outnumber the local workforce by nearly 20 to one, according to the Qatari Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Qatar has fallen under intense scrutiny since it was given the right to host the 2022 World Cup in 2010, alleged to have made corrupt payments in order to win the vote.

Widespread calls have been made for a report, conducted by former US attorney Michael Garcia, into the alleged corruption to be published in full.

But Blatter said: “I will make no comments on the report because I have no right to do so. The ethics committee is totally independent.”