The report says workers from poorer countries including Bangladesh, India and Nepal were promised higher salaries, lived in cramped accommodation and in the case of seven Nepalese men, were refused permission to travel home to see if their families had survived the 2015 earthquakes. Workers at Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Credit:Getty Images The report also shows workers' passports were confiscated and they were paid several months late so their pay would always be in arrears. These methods were commonly used as threats against the men to force them to continue working, in the event they requested to go home either mid-contract and in one case even after the contract had been completed. The report documents interviews with many of the workers, none of whom have made any official complaint to the Qatari authorities about their treatment. Amnesty says this is because they are too scared to voice their concerns.

28-year-old Sakib took out a loan with a 4 per cent monthly interest rate to cover his $US4000 recruitment fee paid to an agent in Bangladesh. His basic monthly salary is US$160 meaning there is little to send home after making the loan repayments. "God knows there are days when I cannot continue, everything becomes too much," he said to Amnesty International. "The only thing that keeps me alive is the thought of my children," he said. Another worker told of being screamed at by his manager to "keep working or you will never leave" when he asked to return home because his pay was always late. All 132 men carrying out construction-related work on the refurbishment of Khalifa Stadium told Amnesty they had problems receiving salaries from their employers but were routinely told by their managers "I don't care" when they complained that their pay was late or less than agreed. 'Do not mention this again'

Nepalese workers also described their anguish at not being allowed to travel home to check on their families after the earthquakes, which killed 8000 people and injured 21,000 more. Metalworker Manish said: "For days I did not hear anything from my brother and his family. My mother lives with him so I became too anxious and could not work properly." Manish says when he asked his supervisor if he could return home he was angrily told: "You cannot leave for two years … do not mention this again." In total 88 men were told they could not leave Qatar and seven Nepalese men said when they asked to travel home to check on their loved ones after the earthquakes in April and May 2015, they were denied permission and access to their passports. Confiscating a worker's passport is against Qatari law. The report also says all the migrant workers paid individual recruitment fees, which are also against Qatari law, some as high as US$4,300 to secure their jobs. Many men took out loans in their home countries meaning there was little financial benefit in taking the overseas job when they arrived and discovered they would be paid often half of what was promised.

Call to uphold rights Amnesty has called on football's governing body, FIFA and the Qatari government to take action and uphold basic working rights for the 243 male migrants they interviewed. "Ultimately the Government of Qatar is responsible for the human rights abuses occurring in the country, yet FIFA did not put in place any measures to ensure that the men who would build the World Cup infrastructure would not be exploited," Amnesty's report said. Having awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar, it is incumbent on FIFA to engage in a robust and ongoing process of human rights due diligence that addresses the specific risks and actual impacts on the rights of individuals. "On the evidence presented, this is not happening," the report said.

In comments to CNN, both Qatar and FIFA defended the treatment of workers. Qatar won hosting rights in questionable bid Since 1998, every World Cup bidding process has been subject to allegations of corruption and bribery, including Qatar's winning bid for the 2022 tournament. Australia competed for hosting rights but was knocked out in the first round after receiving just one vote, to the astonishment of those behind the bid. But a FIFA report cleared Qatar of any wrongdoing. The same report criticised Australia's wooing efforts and identified "certain payments from the Football Federation of Australia which … appear to have been commingled, at least in part with personal funds of the then CONCACAF President [Jack Warner]." The former head of the communications team for Australia's bid turned whistleblower, Bonita Mersiades has called on FIFA to repay Australia the $45 million spent on the bid after the 2015 corruption scandal which led to Sepp Blatter being suspended from taking party in any FIFA activities for six years.