Page 12 - THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES- A MULTI-METHOD INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYSIS Ryan Gautier
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Chapter One – Introduction
workers) had come from beyond Russia’s borders to work on Olympic-related construction projects.7 Others have claimed the number of migrant workers to be closer to 50,000, many without work permits.8
Workers at Sochi Olympic sites reportedly suffered from abusive employment practices. Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation (‘NGO’), uncovered employment practices such as non-payment of wages, long hours of work, and withholding of identification documents.9 These practices violated both Russian labour laws and international labour standards. Sochi has not been alone in witnessing large-scale labour rights violations while preparing to host a sports mega-event. Fears have been raised that conditions similar to those at Sochi will prevail at the sites of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (‘FIFA’) World Cup, which Russia is hosting.10 Brazil, host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and home to Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Summer Olympic Games, has had problems with worker safety, with multiple deaths at stadiums being constructed for the World Cup.11 Concerns have also been raised about the treatment of migrant workers in Japan, in advance of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.12 And, Qatar, host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has come under severe scrutiny for its employment practices from human rights NGOs13 and international trade union
7 Human Rights Watch, Race to the Bottom (n 4) 20.
8 Nataliya Vasilyeva, ‘Migrant Workers at Sochi Olympic Sites Face Abuses’ (Yahoo!News, 6 February 2013)
<http://news.yahoo.com/migrant-workers-sochi-olympic-sites-face-abuses-141644081--oly.html> accessed 16 March 2015.
9 Human Rights Watch, Race to the Bottom (n 4) 20.
10 ‘New “FIFA” Laws Strip World Cup Workers’ Rights in Russia’ (International Trade Union Confederation, 9 October 2013) <http://www.ituc-csi.org/new-fifa-laws-strip-world-cup?lang=en> accessed 10 July 2014. For the law in question, see O podgotovke i provedenii v Rossijskoj Federacii čempionata mira po futbolu FIFA 2018 goda, Kubka konfederacij FIFA 2017 goda i vnesenii izmenenij v otdel’nye zakonodatel’nye akty Rossijskoj Federacii [On the Preparation and Conduct of the Russian Federation 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation] June 7, 2013, FZ-108 (Russia).
11 Associated Press, ‘Stadium Worker Dies in Brazil’ New York Times (New York, 9 May 2014) B14.
12 Suvendrini Kakuchi, ‘Japan Seeks Foreign Workers, Uneasily’ (Inter Press Service News Agency, 23 April
2014) <http://wwwipsnews.net/2014/04/japan-seeks-foreign-workers-uneasily/> accessed 14 May 2014.
13 Amnesty International, ‘The Dark Side of Human Migration: Spotlight on Qatar’s Construction Sector Ahead of the World Cup’ (2013); Human Rights Watch, Building a Better World Cup: Protecting Migrant Workers in Qatar Ahead of FIFA 2022 (2012).
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