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| Arabia |
| World Cup sponsor logos redesigned to protest labor abuses in Qatar |
| 2015-05-29 |
| [THEVERGE] Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... has come under intense criticism in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup, amid reports that new stadiums and luxury hotels are being constructed under labor conditions that amount to modern-day slavery. Nepalese workers, who comprise about 20 percent of Qatar's migrant labor force, were dying at a rate of one every two days as of late last year, according to The Guardian, often due to extreme heat and poor safety standards. The country's kafala labor system also ties migrant workers to their employers, who can confiscate passports and withhold pay as they see fit. Last week, The Guardian reported that many Nepalese workers were denied leave to attend funerals held after a massive earthquake struck their home country last month. The revelations have spurred some to pressure World Cup corporate sponsors to take a stronger stand. Coca-Cola, Visa, and Adidas have publicly expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over the labor practices and have called for reform, though activists fear that mere statements may not do enough to raise broader awareness. To that end, some amateur designers have taken a far bolder tact, reworking the sponsors' logos to more accurately reflect the human costs of the event they're financing. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 This isn't new - the conditions have been there for a couple of decades now. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2015-05-29 09:44 |
| #1 Sort of skipping the sports broadcasters who reap the money from the 'sponsors'? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-05-29 09:36 |