ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow hailed the creation of Fifa’s panel to monitor construction at World Cup stadiums in Qatar as an “important step forward” yesterday.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino is currently on a visit of Qatar, overviewing the work to prepare the blood-soaked Gulf state for the 2022 World Cup.

While Fifa-appointed human rights expert John Ruggie, from Harvard University, advised last week that tournaments should be moved from countries where abuses persisted, Burrow highlighted that this is a step in the right direction.

She told the Star: “This could be an important step forward to ending the abuse of Qatar’s migrant workforce as the pace of construction accelerates to meet the 2022 deadline.

“The April 14 report by Ruggie set out Fifa’s responsibilities and the composition, objectives and activities of this oversight body need to fully reflect [his] recommendations.

“In particular, it needs to recognise that many more workers are engaged in delivering the World Cup than those working only inside the stadium gates and that until the government reforms its medieval labour laws, the companies and bodies responsible for delivering the World Cup can and must do what is needed to respect workers’ rights throughout their operations.”

Amnesty International welcomed “steps in the right direction” announced by the Fifa president, who was elected two months ago.

“Finally, it appears Fifa is waking up to the fact that unless it takes concrete action, the Qatar 2022 World Cup will be built on the blood, sweat and tears of migrant workers,” said Mustafa Qadri, a spokesman for Amnesty on migrants’ rights in the Gulf region.

Qatar has been heavily criticised by rights groups and trade unions for continued exploitation, abuse and deaths of migrant workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.

Ruggie said last week that Fifa should have gotten assurances from Qatar that the “kafala” system, where workers are entirely at the mercy of their employers, would not be used for any World Cup-related job before bidding even started in 2009.