The Guardian view on the Qatar World Cup one year on: a shadowed legacy

Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino. ‘Perhaps most egregiously, given the record profits banked by Fifa, a “legacy fund” set up by Mr Infantino contains no provision for remedying human rights abuses suffered by foreign workers in Qatar.’ Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

A year ago, Lionel Messi and what seemed to be the entire population of Argentina were celebrating victory after perhaps the most dramatic World Cup final ever played. In a closing tournament press conference, the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, described Qatar 2022 as the best World Cup in history. The accounts showed that world football’s governing body had pocketed a record $7.5bn worth of revenue.

Then, as Christmas approached, the sporting and media caravans moved on. But many migrant workers, whose labour had enabled this sporting spectacle to take place, did not. By March this year, a coalition of eight union federations had issued an angry statement noting deteriorating working conditions, as the spotlight of global attention abruptly switched off.