Human Rights Protesters Target Blatter at FIFA Headquarters

Today ended with Sepp Blatter in a cage. Well, not actually him. But activists from Avaaz, the global campaign movement, gathered outside FIFA headquarters in Zurich and used Blatter's doppelganger to draw attention to the ongoing crisis among guest workers building the World Cup 2022 infrastructure in Qatar. The workers labor under a system known as Kafala, in which employers have almost supreme control over their employees, dictating when they work, where they sleep, and even when they can leave the country. The plight of these workers is well documented. Millions live in substandard, filthy, overcrowded dormitories and toil in temperatures topping 122 degrees fahrenheit. Thousands have already died in the process.

"Avaaz members around the world are calling for two things in particular," Alaphia Zoyab, an Avaaz organizer, said in a phone interview on Thursday. "They're calling for Sepp Blatter to step down. In the face of the massive corruption scandals, he has absolutely no place as the head honcho of FIFA. So he has to go. And we also see that FIFA is too corrupt to care, because they've done absolutely nothing about the human rights situation in Qatar, where in effect we have modern day slavery."

About 30 Avaaz organizers carried out today's stunt by constructing a giant cage. Inside the cage, they imprisoned an activist wearing a Sepp Blatter puppet head. "We put him in the cage to represent the fact that we want justice done," said Zoyab. "And we had members in blue overalls, like the kind workers in Qatar wear."

The protesters were met by FIFA spokespeople. "We had a long conversation," said Zoyab. She asked if FIFA will hold the Qataris to a timeline of labour reform. They replied, "they can't do that. They won't do that."

FIFA also confirmed Blatter would not step down, and that he would contest the elections.

"Basically, FIFA said the right things about labor reform but they're refusing to hold them to any conditions," concluded Zoyab.

Although the protest was small in number and symbolic in nature, it was backed by over 830,000 members from around the world who have signed Avaaz petitions supporting the group's actions and condemning the situation in Qatar and FIFA's lack of initiative.

The campaign is also supported by group of current and former professional soccer players, including US international Robbie Rogers, former France internationals Vikash Dhorasoo­­ and David Ginola, former England international Lee Dixon, and former Morocco international Abdeslam Ouaddou, all of whom were signatories on a letter condemning the situation in Qatar.

"Over one million workers, a majority of them immigrants from poor nations, are effectively held hostage on the world's biggest building site which experts say could see 4,000 people dying even before the first ball is kicked," the letter reads in part.

Ouaddou dealt with corruption in Qatar first hand. He enjoyed a long career, playing for five clubs around Europe, including England's Fulham. He made 57 appearances for the Moroccan national team. As his career came to an end, he signed for Lekhwiya Sports Club, a team owned by Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani (who also owns Spain's Malaga). After a year with Lekhwiya, despite winning the league title and being elected best defender in the Qatar Stars League, Ouaddou was transferred against his will to Qatar Sports Club. After finishing the season, and with one season left on his contract, he was told that he was no longer needed and offered a severance that amounted to one month's pay.

"I was shocked," explained Ouaddou by phone, Thursday. "I said, 'It's not possible, because I still have 12 months on my contract. How can you give me one month and [make me leave] the club?'" He suggested they sell him to another club or offer him a loan, as is customary in the rest of the football world. Qatar Sports Club refused.

They also refused to grant him an exit visa. He was trapped.

"During seven months, I didn't get paid by the club. They stopped paying the rent. They confiscated my car—the club's car. They stopped the electricity in my home. I was with my children and my wife, with my children going to a french school there. I had to pay for their school. I had to feed them."

Ouaddou said he was only released because of the media his story generated. "I'm an international player," he said. "I played for Fulham. I played in the Champions League with Olympiacos. I played in France. I was a 17-year professional. I have a name. And my name saved me."

"If nobody knows you in Qatar, they can just forget you there," he continues. "They stop paying you. They stop the rent. They stop everything. You're just waiting. Waiting until you accept the offer they give you."

When Ouaddou got back to France, where he lives, he dedicated his retirement to fighting for the people trapped in Qatar, unable to leave and denied basic human rights under the Kafala system. "If an athlete is treated like a slave, you can imagine the workers there," he said.

"In the 21st century, you can not see a system like [the Kafala system]. It's against human rights. It's against human beings. You can not treat people like that. […] Qatar does not deserve the World Cup in 2022 if they treat people like slaves."