Amnesty International voices concerns over Qatar plan for rugby’s Nations Championship

Human rights charity highlights plight of migrant workers in Gulf state and treatment of women and LGBTQ+

Any plans to stage rugby union’s inaugural Nations Championship final in Qatar would be met with resistance by Amnesty International, the human rights charity.

It emerged this week that the Gulf state is keen to host the play-offs for the new biennial competition which is due to begin in 2026 and will feature 12 countries, including Scotland and their Six Nations rivals, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, and probably Fiji and Japan.

The tournament is designed to add more structure to international fixtures during summer tours and the autumn window, pitching the best of the north against the best of the south. The teams would be divided into two groups of six with the winners of each playing off in a grand final.

General view outside the Lusail Stadium prior to the Fifa World Cup final match between Argentina and France in Qatar on December 18, 2022. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

It was reported this week that Qatar will bid to host a three-day play-off tournament which as well as the grand final would feature match-ups between the teams which finish second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

According to the Daily Mail, Qatar’s plan is based on using venues in Doha such as Lusail Stadium, the venue for the 2022 football World Cup final. The report claims an offer promising commercial returns of up to £800 million over eight years has been sent to the Six Nations and Sanzaar unions last week, giving them seven days to sign up to a two-month period of exclusive negotiations.

The construction of the stadiums for the 2022 Fifa World Cup is mired in controversy, with reports of thousands of deaths of migrant workers amid brutal conditions they were subjected to while building the state-of-the-art grounds and infrastructure needed to stage the tournament. Qatar was also heavily criticised for its record on women’s rights and its treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Responding to the report of rugby’s interest in going to Qatar, Neil Cowan, Amnesty International UK's Scotland Programme Director, said it was imperative that the sport took a stand over the way workers were treated and called on governing body World Rugby to lobby for compensation for those who suffered. He also raised concerns over the state’s stance on the rights of women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“A Nations Championship hosted by Qatar would resurface many of the issues that bedevilled the 2022 football World Cup, from matches played in stadiums that saw the systematic exploitation and deaths of migrant workers to concerns that LGBTQ+ fans could experience discrimination,” said Cowan.

“Though it was hailed a success by Fifa, the World Cup was built on the suffering of thousands of migrant workers and took place in a country where LGBTQ+ people can be jailed, and where freedom of speech and women’s rights are unacceptably curtailed.

“World Rugby ought to insist that any Nations Championship hosting deal incorporates commitments from the Qatari authorities over investigating the deaths of migrant workers in the run-up to 2022 and assurances that long-overdue compensation payments are made to thousands of workers who suffered serious labour abuses.”

A spokesman for the Six Nations would not be drawn on the Qatar link but said: “The interest and excitement for rugby's Nations Cup continues to build, ahead of its introduction in 2026. However, we do not comment on commercial matters, or engage with speculation.”

It is not the first time rugby has flirted with playing games in Qatar. In 2022 the United Rugby Championship defended tentative plans to stage pre-season matches in Qatar using the football World Cup stadiums. No such games have yet materialised but the URC did strike a deal with Qatar Airways which became the league’s official airline partner.

At the time, Martin Anayi, the chief executive of the URC, rebutted suggestions that the Qatar state could use the deal for ‘sportswashing’.

“Rugby is new to Doha, to Qatar, they’re really interested in the values of rugby, in that team ethos and what they could potentially look at as communicating things that they are interested in doing; the community aspect,” said Anayi.