World Cup hotel shields England team from fans – and Qatar’s labour abuses | Qatar

Removed from the glittering towers of Doha, off a street lined with scruffy fast-food retailers and down a slim, bumpy lane that results in a seashore, stands the lodge that may host England on the World Cup.

When David Beckham and Gary Neville visited not too long ago, their preliminary response was lower than enthusiastic.“Who selected this?” was Neville’s blunt evaluation, as they stood in entrance of the Souq Al Wakra lodge’s modest entrance.

However what the lodge lacks in glamour it makes up for in privateness. Excessive partitions enclose the venue, which is constructed within the conventional type of the souk that surrounds it. Rooms are organized round small courtyards to protect visitors’ privateness. There are few externally going through home windows; the one view of the seashore is from a rooftop seating space.

As soon as inside, Beckham was extra upbeat. “The factor that you simply search for is tranquillity greater than something. You need to be in the course of nowhere,” he mentioned as he strolled by way of the lodge’s grounds. “That is the proper set-up.”

The beachfront has the texture of a rundown English seaside city, solely hotter. As the warmth eases within the night, households come to swim within the sea or take a camel journey alongside the seashore.

Again inside, the employees seem excited on the prospect of internet hosting high footballers. “Have you learnt the England workforce will probably be staying right here? They’ve booked the entire lodge. David Beckham got here – I served him,” an Indian waiter says eagerly.

“There’s no alcohol allowed. We’re a dry lodge,” he provides, suggesting privateness isn’t the one purpose the England supervisor, Gareth Southgate, favours the lodge.

For footballers used to outrageous luxurious, it’s a modest alternative, extra four-star than 5. The usual rooms are small; there are few amenities, restricted consuming choices and no swimming pool (not that December is swimming season in Qatar). Rooms can be found from about £70 an evening.

Whereas 24 of the event’s 32 groups will probably be based mostly inside 10km of one another in Doha, England’s lodge is in Al Wakrah, a small city about 25 minutes’ drive south of the capital. Past the seashore and souk, there may be little to see or do, however in a rustic as small as Qatar, nothing could be very far-off.

England’s designated coaching floor is a couple of minutes from the lodge. Al Bayt Stadium, the place England might play most of their video games, is the farthest away of the eight stadiums, however remains to be lower than an hour’s drive away.

Sitting within the lodge’s predominant courtyard, with fountains gurgling within the background, Beckham – who has reportedly signed a multimillion-pound deal to advertise Qatar – instructed Neville what an “unimaginable expertise” the World Cup could be. That is going to be a event that you simply’re not going to need to miss.”

Nevertheless, whereas the England workforce could possibly escape the frenzy of followers of their beach-side hideaway, they will be unable to keep away from the shadow of labour abuses that may fall on this World Cup.

Within the souk exterior and alongside the beachfront promenade, safety guards from locations together with Kenya, Nepal and Pakistan endure 12-hour shifts for simply over £1 an hour. They are saying they work 30 days a month. “If I take a break day, they reduce my wage,” says one.

They are saying they’ve all been compelled to pay extortionate charges – of as much as £1,360 – to brokers of their dwelling international locations to safe their jobs, which means they need to work for months simply to repay the prices.

Latest reforms to Qatar’s labour legal guidelines – touted by Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino – ought to imply they’re free to vary jobs and search for one thing higher, however the employees who spoke to the Guardian say it’s unimaginable.

“The corporate won’t give us permission to go away. They inform us we now have to cancel our visas, go dwelling after which apply for an additional job,” says one.

Close to the lodge, a Kenyan safety guard, in the course of one other 12-hour shift, has a distinct take from Beckham. He explains that his wage is much decrease than he was promised when he left dwelling.

“It’s a entice, since you are instructed one factor in Kenya and one other in Qatar,” he says. “There’s nothing you are able to do. Simply preserve quiet and get on with it.”

Underneath Qatari employment regulation, overseas employees have the proper to vary jobs if their contract is terminated and authorized procedures are in place if an worker doesn’t obtain their wages or allowances on the finish of their contract.

The Qatari authorities additionally mentioned a fund to help employees, together with by reimbursing unpaid wages or advantages, had paid out £152.5m by final month.

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