Qatar, the country that will host the 2022 World Cup, is once again facing harsh criticism over its treatment of migrant workers.

Earlier this week, The Telegraph reported that organizers of a marathon in Doha (Qatar’s capital) had bussed in migrant workers for the event.

According to the reports, the Al Sadd Sports Club, which organized the marathon, was trying to set a Guiness World Record by having 50,000 participants run in the race.

When they realized that they were going to fall short of this number, Al Sadd officials reportedly decided to bus in migrant workers from their dormitories in the desert to try and make up the difference. The race’s other participants couldn’t help but take notice.

“The worst part of all was that there was a large mass of labourers wearing jeans, flip-flops and no proper running equipment. Some laborers tried to leave but were turned back and were yelled at that they need to stay and cross the line,”

one of the runners told Doha News after the event.

“Others were forced to walk several kilometers before the organizers obviously realized they would not finish, and so they were loaded back into their busses and sent away,”

said another participant, who described the marathon as, “one of the most disorganised and chaotic events I have ever had the displeasure of attending.”

Mega Gonzales Cervantes, a spokesman for the Al Sadd Sports Club, admitted to The Telegraph that the race’s organizers had asked companies to encourage employees “with decent jobs” to take part in the record attempt.

He claimed, however, that participation was voluntary and that all of the runners had been offered a “proper running kit”.

When asked about the busses, Cervantes said they were provided because the laborers live in an industrial area in the desert where there is no other means of transport.

While he wouldn’t give the names of any of the companies that employed these laborers, he did say that the camp was made up of construction and factory workers.

Cervantes also refuted the claim that some of the laborers were forced to continue when they tried to leave the race, saying,

“If they didn’t want to run, we advised them to go to their buses. We wanted to keep the course clear, and for the course to look presentable.”

In the end, Al Sadd’s was only able to register about 33,000 runners for the marathon, including the migrant workers. Some participants have claimed that the actual number of runners was actually far lower.

If the reports are indeed true, this wouldn’t be the first time migrant laborers were used to make sporting events in Qatar look better. In December, reports emerged that migrant laborers were being paid as little as $1/hour to fill vacant seats at various sporting events.

Read more from Doha News and The Telegraph.