During last night's European Parliament debate on corruption in FIFA, GUE/NGL MEPS stressed that the continuing treatment of migrant workers is the real scandal.

Irish MEP Liadh Ní Riada said: “This is no real surprise. FIFA is notoriously corrupt. The real scandal is the fact of turning a blind eye to the terrible abuses of migrant construction workers.

“More than 4,000 workers will have died by the time the Qatar World Cup kicks off. The tragic cost of this corruption in FIFA is modern-day slavery. FIFA is not just corrupt it is implicitly endorsing the Qatari government's abuses of migrant workers' rights.”

She concluded: “In light of the deaths of almost 2,000 workers so far, FIFA has no option but to reopen the discussion on the location of World Cup 2022.”

Spanish MEP Paloma López agreed that the corruption was serious “but hardly surprising”.

“Behind this FIFA corruption scandal are the victims of a globalised world that cares less about the dead than it does about the benefits of their exploitation.

“The EU cannot continue to look the other way. It should be defending ILO conventions above any other interest.”