Southgate received flak for saying that Qatari employees were "unified" in their desire for the World Cup

Human rights organisations are criticising Gareth Southgate for saying that employees in Qatar were "unified" in wanting the World Cup to happen, despite the nation's subpar record on labour rights.

After learning that relatives of migrant workers who had perished, been injured, or had their wages stolen had told the organisation they "would like to support the World Cup but cannot because their children are starving and their breadwinners died in Qatar," Human Rights Watch questioned the England manager's remarks.

In an interview with CNN, Southgate admitted that there were still problems with Qatar, but insisted that there was no doubt the World Cup should go on as scheduled.

The employees there, he continued, "are unified in at least one thing, that is, they want the tournament to happen, and they want that because they love football. I've been out to Qatar several times and I've met with lots of the people there." "They want the game to be played in Qatar."

Even though Fifa and the Qatari organisers assert that major adjustments have occurred, the topic of human rights in Qatar continues to be of concern. Since Qatar was given the World Cup ten years ago, 6,500 migrant labourers have perished, according to a Guardian article from last year. More recent research revealed that in order to make the equivalent of about £1 per hour, employees on World Cup-related projects are need to perform 12-hour shifts spread out over 30 days each month.