Why more TV viewers are switching on subtitles | The Week

Millions of television viewers in the UK with unimpaired hearing are using subtitles, research shows.

So just why has what “was once a question of accessibility and a mainstay of foreign-language broadcasts” become an “inescapable part of visual media”, asked culture writer Hannah J. Davies in The Guardian.

Who is using subtitles?

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An Ofcom study back in 2006 found that 7.5 million UK-based TV viewers used subtitles, “of whom about six million did not have a hearing impairment”.

In 2019, the regulator told The Guardian that subtitle use had increased further with the rise of smartphones, as “more and more people watch programmes or videos on commutes”.

A study by Netflix that year found that more than 80% of members used subtitles or closed captions at least once a month on the streaming platform, “with many of them reporting that they use dubs and subtitles to learn new languages”.

And the BBC reported last November that latest research by captioning charity Stagetext had found that the majority of viewers aged between 18 and 25 said they now used subtitles “all or part of the time”.

Four in five young viewers routinely watched with subtitles, compared with less than a quarter of viewers aged between 56 and 75, despite the older age group being almost twice as likely to be deaf or hearing impaired.

The findings show that while “originally intended to help those with hearing problems, subtitles have become an essential aid for following a show for many people – especially if other distractions and devices are competing for their attention”, said the BBC.

The global popularity of foreign-language films and shows such as South Korean thriller Squid Game, French action mystery Lupin and Spanish crime drama Money Heist has also made subtitle use more mainstream.

“I think there's far more acceptance of subtitles by young people because it's the norm, whereas, with an older age group, it isn't necessarily the norm,” said Stagetext’s chief executive Melanie Sharpe.

Older people often feel like subtitles require an “extra concentration level”, she argued, whereas younger people can “take in far more information quickly because they’re used to it”.

Lost in translation?

While an increasing number of viewers are becoming reliant on subtitles, some critics are warning about poorly executed captions, particularly in foreign language translations.

Many Korean speakers have claimed the subtitles for Squid Game missed much of the nuance and meaning of certain words or were simply mistranslated. “If you don’t understand Korean, you didn’t really watch the same show,” tweeted Youngmi Mayer, a New York-based co-host of podcast Feeling Asian.

She released a TikTok video outlining the flaws in Squid Game’s subtitles that has had more than 13.5 million views.

These “‘lost in translation’ moments have even tipped over into accusations of cultural and political bias”, said writer and TV presenter Viv Groskop in an article for The Guardian.

Writing for Vice, Korean American journalist Eileen Cho described “feeling personally attacked” as a result of Squid Game subtitles that were “just plain wrong”, and asked: “How will people learn about our culture if the streamer is mistranslating our language?”

Subtitles or closed captions?

The row about “Squid Game’s subtitles has performed a service” by highlighting the differences between subtitles, closed captions and dubbing, wrote Groskip in The Guardian.

“Netflix’s algorithm sets your choice automatically to dubbing, which is why if you click on any foreign language content, the actors will mysteriously appear on your screen speaking fluent American English that almost-but-not-quite matches their mouth movements,” she explained.

A “direct transcript of the dubbing script” is generally used for closed captions, which “were initially devised for deaf viewers and include audio description”.

But subtitles “use another script entirely”, Groskip continued. Like closed captions, subtitles “are subject to constraints” such as having to correspond to a preset reading speed, but “they are often seen as a more accurate translation than the dubbing script”.

Using subtitles when watching English-language shows can present other problems, however.

“Too often, the subtitles are out of sync with the spoken dialogue,” wrote Chris Taylor for Mashable. “Lagging behind is bad, but captions that are ahead of the game are often worse – mini-spoilers, in effect.”

Language benefits

Despite such criticisms, many argue that “the mainstreaming of subtitles is doing more good than harm, making visual media more accessible, understandable and dynamic”, said Davies in The Guardian.

Watching subtitled films, TV shows and videos can have “huge benefits for children” too, wrote Sharon Black, a lecturer in interpreting at the University of East Anglia, in an article on The Conversation.

“It can help them boost their reading skills and learn other languages, as well as providing more inclusive access for children with disabilities or those who speak a minority language. This small change – turning on subtitles – can make a big difference.”

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Pong at 50: the video game that 'changed the world' | The Week

Today marks 50 years since the gaming giant Atari first released Pong into an unsuspecting world.

The “first commercially successful video game in history”, the electronic table tennis game has embedded itself “in the public consciousness forever”, said Kotaku’s editor, David Smith. Today, historic Pong hardware even “sits on displays as prestigious as the Smithsonian”.

But it started out as something of an experiment for Atari’s first computer engineer.

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A ‘warm-up exercise’

Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded Atari in 1972. The first engineer to join the team was Allan Alcorn, a University of California graduate who had “never played a video game before”, according to Professor Allison Marsh, writing at IEEE Spectrum.

Nolan Bushnell, the creator of Pong (Image credit: Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Alcorn was assigned “a kind of warm-up exercise” by Bushnell, said Kotaku’s Smith. In an oral history taken by the Computer History Museum in 2008, Alcorn recalled that he was asked to create Pong – “which we now know was just an exercise” – believing that Atari had been contracted by General Electric to deliver a basic video game.

Pong “couldn’t be more simple by today’s standards”, said Smith. A pixelated black and white screen depicts an electronic table tennis table, with a dotted line through the middle marking the net, a small square ball and two rectangular bats on either side.

During the game’s development, Alcorn said he “basically had free reign”. Pong was “low-budget to the point of being a one-man operation”, said the New York Post, and Alcorn told the newspaper it took him two months to create it.

Keen to test Pong’s potential, Bushnell installed Alcorn’s creation at “local drinking hole” Andy Capp’s Tavern, said Kyle MacNeill at The Guardian. The “new form of playable, payable game… quickly struck gold”.

‘The game-changer’

If anything “it was too popular”, said MacNeill. “According to Pong lore, people lined up for their turn to stuff quarters into the machine”, said IEEE Spectrum, until “the manager called Alcorn because the coin box was jammed to overflowing”.

At the time, Pong machines cost $500 to manufacture, according to the New York Post, and Atari was selling them for $1,000. “The business grew quickly and even spread overseas.”

Atari went on to sell thousands of Pong consoles, and “the sudden success of its first game” saw the company “scrambling to staff up”, said the New York Post. In 1973 Alcorn hired Steve Jobs, then “a young hippie in sandals” who arrived at Atari’s offices “asking for a job”.

Alcorn told the newspaper that Jobs, who would go on to co-found Apple just three years later, was “kind of a pain to work with”, and he had a “real problem with body odour”, which saw him put on the night shifts. “It was better for everyone,” said Alcorn.

The “real game changer” for Pong came in 1975, said IEEE Spectrum, when Home Pong was released. This at-home console was marketed as being compatible to play on any TV set, and “hundreds of thousands of Pong sets were distributed through the department store Sears”, said the site.

Steve Heighway, left, the former Liverpool footballer, tries out Pong in 1977 (Image credit: SSPL/Getty Images)

“Striking while the silicon was sizzling”, Atari released “a slew of sequels”, said MacNeill in The Guardian, such as Pong Doubles and Quadrapong. But by the end of the 1970s “Pong was overtaken” as new games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders offered “more up-to-date” features and graphics, said MacNeill.

But it had already made its mark as the video game that “changed the world”.

The next level

Pong “is still a touchstone” in the billion-dollar gaming industry, said Kotaku’s Smith.

And the game “still has a place in active research”, said IEEE Spectrum, and is used for “training AI algorithms, strengthening neural networks, and developing the brain-machine interface called Neuralink”. It’s also used to teach children how to code, said MacNeill in The Guardian.

Even “a bundle of lab-grown brain cells” has had a go at playing Pong, said The Guardian. In October, researchers at biological computing start-up Cortical Labs in Melbourne, Australia published a paper in the journal Neuron explaining how a grouping of 800,000 brain cells figured out how to play the game “in five minutes”.

The mini-brain was “plugged into” the video game, said the BBC, which provided an “external environment” to test brain development. Once play got underway, the cells “often missed the ball” but the “success rate was well above random chance”. The researchers hope the technology could one day be used to trial treatments for neurodegenerative conditions.

It may be “the most boring video game of all time”, said IEEE, but 50 years since people first started playing it, gamers are still drawn to the “novelty factor” and, of course, its “nostalgia”.

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Migrant workers helped build Qatar's World Cup tournament, now ...

CNN —

Kamal was standing outside a shop with other migrant workers, having finished yet another grueling working day, when he and – he says – a few others were arrested this August. Without explanation, the 24-year-old says he was put into a vehicle and, for the next week, kept in a Qatari jail, the location and name of which he does not know.

“When they arrested me, I couldn’t say anything, not a single word, as I was so scared,” he told CNN Sport, speaking at home in southern Nepal where he has been working on a farm since being deported three months ago.

Kamal – CNN has changed the names of the Nepali workers to protect them from retaliation – is one of many migrant workers wanting to tell the world of their experiences in Qatar, a country that will this month host one of sport’s greatest, most lucrative, spectacles – the World Cup, a tournament which usually unites the world as millions watch the spectacular goals and carefully-choreographed celebrations.

It will be a historic event, the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, but one also mired in controversy. Much of the build-up to this tournament has been on more sober matters, that of human rights, from the deaths of migrant workers and the conditions many have endured in Qatar, to LGBTQ and women’s rights.

Kamal says he has yet to be paid the 7,000 Qatari Riyal bonus (around $1,922) he says he is entitled to from his previous employers, nor 7,000 Riyal in insurance for injuring two fingers at work.

“I wasn’t told why I was being arrested. People are just standing there … some are walking with their grocery [sic], some are just sitting there consuming tobacco products … they just arrest you,” he adds, before explaining he could not ask questions as he does not speak Arabic.

A worker is seen inside the Lusail Stadium during a stadium tour on December 20, 2019, in Doha, Qatar. Francois Nel/Getty Images

Describing the conditions in the cell he shared with 24 other Nepali migrant workers, he says he was provided with a blanket and a pillow, but the mattress on the floor he had to sleep on was riddled with bed bugs.

“Inside the jail, there were people from Sri Lanka, Kerala (India), Pakistan, Sudan, Nepal, African, Philippines. There were around 14-15 units. In one jail, there were around 250-300 people. Around 24-25 people per room,” he says.

“When they take you to the jail, they don’t give you a room right away. They keep you in a veranda. After a day or two, once a room is empty, they keep people from one country in one room.”

Using a smuggled phone, he spoke to friends, one of whom, he says, brought his belongings – including his passport – to the jail, though he says he was sent home after the Nepali embassy had sent a paper copy of his passport to the jail. CNN has reached out to the embassy but has yet to receive a response.

“When they put me on the flight, I started thinking: ‘Why are they sending workers back all of a sudden? It’s not one, two, 10 people … they are sending 150, 200, 300 workers on one flight,’” he says.

“Some workers who were just roaming outside wearing (work) dress were sent back. They don’t even allow you to collect your clothes. They just send you back in the cloth you are wearing.”

Kamal believes he was arrested because he had a second job, which is illegal under Qatar’s 2004 Labour Law and allows authorities to cancel a worker’s work permit. He says he worked an extra two to four hours a day to supplement his income as he was not making enough money working six eight-hour days a week.

Qatar has a 90-day grace period in which a worker can remain in the country legally without another sponsor, but if they have not had their permit renewed or reactivated in that time they risk being arrested or deported for being undocumented.

He says he received paperwork upon his arrest, which Amnesty International says would likely have explained why he was being detained, but as it was in Arabic he did not know what it said and no translator was provided.

Laborers rest in green space along the corniche in Doha, Qatar, on June 23. Christopher Pike/Bloomberg/Getty Images/FILE

A Qatari government official told CNN in a statement: “Any claims that workers are being jailed or deported without explanation are untrue. Action is only taken in very specific cases, such as if an individual participates in violence.”

The official added that 97% of all eligible workers were covered by Qatar’s Wage Protection System, established in 2018, “which ensures wages are paid in full and on time.” Further work was being done to strengthen the system, the official said.

Some workers never returned home

With the opening match just days away, on-the-pitch matters are a mere footnote because this tournament has come at a cost to workers who left their families in the belief that they would reap financial rewards in one of the world’s richest countries per capita. Some would never return home. None of the three Nepali workers CNN spoke to were richer for their experience. Indeed, they are in debt and full of melancholy.

The Guardian reported last year that 6,500 South Asian migrant workers have died in Qatar since the country was awarded the World Cup in 2010, most of whom were involved in low-wage, dangerous labor, often undertaken in extreme heat.

The report did not connect all 6,500 deaths with World Cup infrastructure projects and has not been independently verified by CNN.

Hassan Al Thawadi – the man in charge of leading Qatar’s preparations – told CNN’s Becky Anderson that the Guardian’s 6,500 figure was a “sensational headline” that was misleading and that the report lacked context.

A government official told CNN there had been three work-related deaths on stadiums and 37 non-work-related deaths. In a statement, the official said the Guardian’s figures were “inaccurate” and “wildly misleading.”

“The 6,500 figure takes the number of all foreign worker deaths in the country over a 10-year period and attributes it to the World Cup,” the official said. “This is not true and neglects all other causes of death including illness, old age and traffic accidents. It also fails to recognize that only 20% of foreign workers in Qatar are employed on construction sites.”

It has been widely reported that Qatar has spent $220 billion leading up to the tournament, which would make it the most expensive World Cup in history, though this likely includes infrastructure not directly associated with stadium construction. A spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) which, since its formation in 2011, has been responsible for overseeing the infrastructure projects and planning for the World Cup, told CNN that the tournament budget was $6.5 billion, without expanding on what that cost covered.

Eight new stadiums rose from the desert, and the Gulf state expanded its airport, constructed new hotels, rail and highways. All would have been constructed by migrant workers, who – according to Amnesty International – account for 90% of the workforce in a near-three million population.

An aerial view of Al Janoub stadium at sunrise on June 21 in Al Wakrah, Qatar. David Ramos/Getty Images

Since 2010, migrant workers have faced delayed or unpaid wages, forced labor, long hours in hot weather, employer intimidation and an inability to leave their jobs because of the country’s sponsorship system, human rights organizations have found.

However, the health, safety and dignity of “all workers employed on our projects has remained steadfast,” a statement from the SC read.

“Our efforts have resulted in significant improvements in accommodation standards, health and safety regulations, grievance mechanisms, healthcare provision and reimbursements of illegal recruitment fees to workers.

“While the journey is on-going, we are committed to delivering the legacy we promised. A legacy that improves lives and lays the foundation for fair, sustainable and lasting labour reforms.”

Last year, in an interview with CNN Sport anchor Amanda Davies, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that while “more needs to be done,” progress had been made.

“I’ve seen the great evolution that has happened in Qatar, which was recognized – I mean not by FIFA – but by labor unions around the world, by international organizations,” said Infantino.

‘It was difficult to breathe’

We are, unusually, writing about a World Cup in November because the competition had to be moved from its usual June-July slot to Qatar’s winter as the heat is so extreme in the country’s summer months – temperatures can reach around 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in June – that playing in such conditions could have posed a health risk to players.

Hari is 27 years old and, like many of his compatriots, left Nepal for Qatar as his family – he was one of five siblings with just his father at home – desperately needed money, primarily to eat. Since 2013, Nepal’s government-mandated minimum wage has been set at $74 a month, according to minimum-wage.org. He says that his monthly wage in Qatar was 700 Rial a month ($192).

After moving to Qatar in 2014, he worked in four places during his four-year stay: at a supermarket, a hotel and airport, but the most difficult job, he says, was in construction when he had to carry tiles up buildings “six to seven stories above” in overbearing heat, plus lay pipelines in deep pits.

“It was too hot,” he tells CNN. “The foreman was very demanding and used to complain a lot. The foreman used to threaten to reduce our salaries and overtime pay.

“I had to carry tiles on my shoulder to the top. It was very difficult going up through the scaffolding. In the pipeline work, there were 5-7 meters deep pits, we had to lay the stones and concrete, it was difficult due to the heat. It was difficult to breathe. We had to come upstairs using a ladder to drink water.

“It never happened to me, but I saw some workers fainting at work. I saw one Bengali, one Nepali … two to three people faint while working. They took the Bengali to medical services. I’m not sure what happened to him.”

During his time in Qatar, government regulations generally prohibited workers from working outdoors between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. from June 15 to August 31. He said one company he worked for followed these rules.

He added: “At some places, they didn’t have water. Some places, they didn’t provide us water on time. At some places, we used to go to houses nearby asking for water.”

In this photo taken in May 2015 during a government organized media tour, workers use heavy machinery at the Al-Wakra Stadium being built for the 2022 World Cup. Maya Alleruzzo/AP/FILE

Working long hours in extreme heat has, some non-governmental organizations believe, caused a number of deaths and put lives at risk in Qatar.

In 2019, research published in the Cardiology Journal, exploring the relationship between the deaths of more than 1,300 Nepali workers between 2009 and 2017 and heat exposure, found a “strong correlation” between heat stress and young workers dying of cardiovascular problems in the summer months.

The government official told CNN that there had been a “consistent decline” in the mortality rate of migrant workers, including a decline in heat stress disorders, “thanks in large part to our comprehensive heat stress legislation.”

“Qatar has always acknowledged that work remains to be done, notably to hold unscrupulous employers to account,” the government official added. “Systemic reform does not happen overnight and shifting the behavior of every company takes time as is the case with any country around the world.”

‘Heat does not typically injure on its own’

Natasha Iskander, Professor of Urban Planning and Public Service at New York University, tells CNN that heat can kill “in ways that are confusing and unclear.”

“Fatal heat stroke can look like a heart attack or a seizure. Sometimes, heat kills through the body, amplifying manageable and often silent conditions, like diabetes and hypertension, and turning them into sudden killers,” she explains.

“As a result, Qatar, in the death certificates that it has issued after migrant construction workers have collapsed, has been able to push back against the correlation between heat stress and deaths and claim instead that the deaths are due to natural causes, even though the more proximate cause is work in the heat.”

Determining the number of workers injured by heat is even harder, she says, because many injuries may not become apparent until years later, when migrants have returned home and young men “find that their kidneys no longer function, that they suffer from chronic kidney disease, or that their hearts have begun to fail, displaying levels of cardiac weakness that are debilitating.”

“Heat does not typically injure on its own,” she adds. “Workers are exposed to heat and heat dangers through the labor relations on Qatari worksites. The long hours, physically intense work, the forced overtime, the abusive conditions, the bullying on site all shape how exposed workers are to heat. Additionally, conditions beyond the worksite also augmented heat’s power to harm – things like poor sleep, insufficient nutrition or a room that was not cool enough to allow the body to reset after a day in the heat. In Qatar, the employer housed workers in labor camps, and workers as a matter of policy were segregated to industrial areas, where living accommodations were terrible.”

Foreign laborers working on the construction site of the Al-Wakrah football stadium, one of Qatar's 2022 World Cup stadiums, walk back to their accomodation at the Ezdan 40 compound after finishing work on May 4, 2015, in Doha's Al-Wakrah southern suburbs. Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

According to Amnesty International, Qatari authorities have not investigated “thousands” of deaths of migrant workers over the past decade “despite evidence of links between premature deaths and unsafe working conditions.” That these deaths are not being recorded as work-related prevents families from receiving compensation, the advocacy group states.

In its statement, the SC said that its commitment to publicly disclose non-work-related deaths went beyond the requirements of the UK’s Health and Safety Executive Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences regulations (RIDDOR), which defines and provides classification for how to document work-related and non-work-related incidents.

The statement added: “The SC investigates all non-work-related deaths and work-related fatalities in line with our Incident Investigation Procedure to identify contributory factors and establish how they could have been prevented. This process involves evidence collection and analysis and witness interviews to establish the facts of the incident.”

Amnesty International’s Ella Knight told CNN Sport that her organization would continue to push Qatar to “thoroughly investigate” deaths of migrant workers, including past deaths, to “ensure the families of the deceased have the opportunity to rebuild their lives.”

Barun Ghimire is a human rights lawyer based in Kathmandu whose work focuses on the exploitation of Nepali migrants working abroad. He tells CNN that the families he advocates for have not received satisfactory information on their loved ones’ deaths. “Families send out healthy, young family member to work and they receive news that the family member died when they were sleeping,” he says. In a separate interview, he told CNN last year: “The Qatar World Cup is really the bloody cup – the blood of migrant workers.”

Last year, Qatari legislation was strengthened regarding outdoor working conditions, expanding summertime working hours during which outdoor work is prohibited – replacing legislation introduced in 2007 – and additionally putting into law that “all work must stop if the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) raises beyond 32.1C (89.8F) in a particular workplace.” The regulations also mandate annual health checks for workers, as well as mandatory risk assessments.

“We recognize that heat stress is a particular issue in the summer months in Qatar,” a Qatari government official said. “In May 2021, Qatar introduced a requirement for companies to conduct annual health checks for workers, as well as mandatory risk assessments to mitigate the dangers of heat stress. Companies are expected to adopt flexible, self-monitored working hours where possible, adjust shift rotations, enforce regular breaks, provide free cold drinking water and shaded workspaces, and adhere to all other guidelines with respect to heat stress outlined by the Ministry of Labour.

“Every summer, Qatar’s labor inspectors carry out thousands of unannounced visits to work sites across the country to ensure that heat stress rules are being followed,” the official added. “Between June and September 2022, 382 work sites were ordered to close for violating the rules.”

Workers walk to the Lusail Stadium -- one of the 2022 Qatar World Cup stadiums -- in Lusail on December 20, 2019. Hassan Ammar/AP

Iskander said a heat point of 32.1C WBGT was “already dangerous.”

“Working at the physical intensity that construction workers do in Qatar for any amount of time at that temperature is damaging to the body,” she explained.

“The regulation relied on the assumption that workers would be able to self-pace and rest as needed whenever they experienced heat stress. Anyone who has ever spent any amount of time on a Qatari construction site knows that workers have no ability to self-pace.”

Knight adds: “The fact investigations into migrant workers deaths are often not happening precludes the possibility of greater protections being implemented because if you don’t know what is really happening to these people how can you then implement and enforce effective measures to increase their protection?”

For the majority of his time in Qatar, Hari said he felt sad. He would watch planes take off during his six months tending the airport gardens and question why he was in the country. But he had paid 90,000 Nepali rupees ($685) to a Nepali recruitment company that facilitated his move. He was also told, he says, by the company he had joined that he would have had to pay 2,000 to 3,000 Riyal ($549-$823) to buy himself out of his contract.

His friends, he said, counseled him as he continued to work long, lonely days for, Hari says, not enough money to live and save for his family. Amnesty International says many migrants pay high fees to “unscrupulous recruitment agents in their home country” which make the workers scared to leave their jobs when they get to Qatar.

Now, he is a father-of-two, and work is plowing fields in Nepal as a tractor driver, but Hari hopes one day to work abroad again, his heart set on Malaysia. “I don’t want my children to go through what I did. I want to build a house, buy some land. That’s what I am thinking. But let’s see what God has planned,” he says.

‘Our dreams never came true’

Sunit has been back in Nepal since August after working just eight months in Qatar. He had expected to be there for two years, but the collapse of the construction company he worked for meant he and many others returned with money still owed to them, he says. He struggles to find work in Nepal, meaning feeding his two children and paying school fees is difficult.

He had dreamed of watching World Cup matches from the rooftop of the hotel he had helped build. One of the stadiums – the name of which he does not know – was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. “We used to talk about it,” he says of the World Cup. “But we had to return, and our dreams never came true. The stadium activities were visible from the hotel. We could see the stadium from the hotel rooftop.”

In helping construct the city center hotel, the name of which he doesn’t remember, he would carry bags of plaster mix and cement, weighing from 30 to 50 kilos, on his shoulders up to 10 to 12 floors, he says.

“The lift was rarely functional. Some people couldn’t carry it and dropped it halfway. If you don’t finish your job, you were threatened saying the salary would be deducted for that day,” he says. “The foreman used to complain that we were taking water breaks as soon as we got to work. They used to threaten us saying: ‘We will not pay you for the day.’ We said: ‘Go ahead. We are humans, we need to drink water.’

“It was very hot. It used to take 1.5 to two hours to get to the top. I used to get tired. I used to stop on the way. Then proceed again slowly. Yes, the supervisors used to yell at us. But what could we do?”

He says he had paid an agent in Nepal 240,000 Nepali rupees (around $1,840) before leaving for Qatar. He says he has filed a case with the police about the agent as he had been unable to fulfill his two-year contract, but there have been no developments. He says the owners of the company he worked for in Qatar were arrested because they did not pay laborers. The company did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, neither did it respond to questions from the Business & Human Rights Centre, an advocacy group, about protests over unpaid wages.

Qatar has expanded its airport, constructed new hotels, and rail and highways over the last decade. Britta Pedersen/picture alliance/Getty Images

For a month, he says, he was in his accommodation with no work or money to buy food – he borrowed to eat – so he and his fellow workers called the police, who brought food with them.

“The police came again after 10-15 days and said we have arrested the company people. (The police) distributed food again,” he says. “They told us the company has collapsed and the government will send all the workers back home.”

“I’m extremely sad,” he adds. “I mean, it is what it is. Nothing would change by regretting it. I get mad (at the company) but what can I do? Even if I had tried to fight back, it would have been my loss.”

The SC said it has established what it claims is a “first-of-its-kind” Workers’ Welfare Forum, which it said allowed workers to elect a representative on their behalf and, when companies failed to comply with the WWF, it steps in, demands better and alerts the authorities.

Since 2016, the SC said 69 contractors had been demobilized, 235 contractors placed on a watch list and a further seven blacklisted. “We understand there is always room for improvement,” the statement added.

‘Expertise and heroism’

Qatar, a peninsula smaller than Connecticut and the smallest World Cup host in history, is set to host an estimated 1.5 million fans over the month-long tournament, which begins on November 20. There are already reports of accommodation concerns for such a vast number of visitors.

The spotlight is no doubt on this Gulf state, as has progressively been the case since it was controversially awarded the tournament over a decade ago – though Qatari officials have previously “strongly denied” to CNN the allegations of bribery which has surrounded its bid.

Such attention has brought about reforms, significantly dismantling the Kafala system which gives companies and private citizens control over migrant workers’ employment and immigration status.

In Qatar, migrant workers can now change jobs freely without permission from their employer. But Knight adds: “Another aspect of the Kafala system, the criminal charge of absconding still exists, and this, along with other tools that are still available to employers, means that, fundamentally, the power balance between workers and employers, the imbalance remains great.”

Knight says unpaid wages is still an issue as the wage protection system “lacks enforcement mechanisms,” while she also says employers can cancel a worker’s ID at a “push of a button,” meaning they risk arrest and deportation. Additionally, labor committees intended to help workers are under-resourced and “lack the capacity to deal with the number of cases that are coming to them.”

Migrant laborers work at a construction site at the Aspire Zone in Doha on March 26, 2016. Naseem Zeitoon/Reuters/FILE

Ghimire agrees that there have been a few positive changes to employment laws but adds that it is “more show and tell.”

“Many workers who work in construction are untouched, so there’s still exploitation going on,” he tells CNN.

Qatar’s government official told CNN work remained to be done but that “systemic reform does not happen overnight, and shifting the behavior of every company takes time as is the case with any country around the world.

“Over the last decade, Qatar has done more than any other country in the region to strengthen the rights of foreign workers, and we will continue to work in close consultation with international partners to strengthen reforms and enforcement.”

Human Rights Watch’s #PayUpFIFA campaign wants Qatar and FIFA to pay at least $440 million – an amount equal to the prize money being awarded at the World Cup – to the families of migrant workers who have been harmed or killed in preparation for the tournament.

Families of workers who have died face uncertain futures, HRW says, especially children. Those who survived and returned home, cheated of wages or injured, remain trapped in debt, it says, “with dire consequences for their families.”

Ghimire says compensation is key, but so too is making the world aware of what has taken place to make this tournament happen.

“People are concerned about clothing brands, and the meat they eat, but what about mega events? Isn’t it time we ask how this was possible?” he asks.

“Everyone who will watch should know at what cost this was even possible and how workers were treated. Players should know, sponsors should know.

“Would it be the same situation if it was European workers dying in Qatar? If it was Argentinean workers, would Argentina be concerned about playing?

“Because it’s migrant workers from poor south Asian countries, they’re invisible people. Forced labor, death of workers, while making a World Cup is unacceptable. As a football fan, it makes me sad; as a lawyer, it makes me really disappointed.”

Earlier this month, Qatar’s Labor Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri rejected the prospect of a remedy fund.

A Qatar government official said the country’s Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund was “effective in providing compensation for workers and their families” with the fund reimbursing workers with more than $350 million so far this year.

In terms of the SC’s efforts to ensure repayment of recruitment fees, as of December 2021, workers have received $22.6 million, with an additional $5.7 million committed by contractors, according to FIFA.

Last month, FIFA’s Deputy Secretary General Alasdair Bell said “compensation is certainly something that we’re interested in progressing.”

A general view shows the exterior of the Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha -- one of eight stadiums that will host World Cup matches KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/AFP via Getty Images

It has been widely reported that FIFA has urged nations participating in the World Cup to focus on football when the tournament kicks off.

FIFA confirmed to CNN that a letter signed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the governing body’s secretary general Fatma Samoura was sent out on November 3 to the 32 nations participating in the global showpiece but would not divulge the contents. However, a number of European federations have issued a joint statement saying they would campaign at the tournament on human rights and for a migrant workers center and a compensation fund for migrant workers.

The motto for Qatar’s bid team in 2010 was ‘Expect Amazing.’ In many ways, this year’s World Cup has replicated that maxim.

As NYU’s Iskander says: “One of the things that is not really covered in the coverage of the World Cup and the coverage of this enormous construction boom is the expertise and heroism of the workers who built it.

“They built buildings that were unimaginable to everyone, including the engineers and designers, until they were built. They performed acts of bravery that are unsung. They operated at levels of technical complexity and sophistication that are unparalleled. And yet their contribution to building the World Cup is really rarely featured, downplayed.

“They are represented, generally speaking, as exploited and oppressed. And it’s true that they have been exploited and oppressed, but they are also the master craftsmen that built this Cup, and they are enormously proud of what they have built.”

Hosting this tournament has undoubtedly put Qatar under the global spotlight. The question is whether the world can enjoy watching what the migrant workers built, knowing the true cost of this billion-dollar extravaganza.

Aimee Lewis Pramod Acharya Sugam Pokharel

Netflix in December: 'Infinity War,' 'Roma,' Ellen's stand-up special

After last month's deluge of cheesy holiday films, Netflix is offering up titles in December more likely to appease a serious cinephile.

What should film-festival fans add to their queue? For starters, there's Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron's drama "Roma," Oscar winner Susanne Bier's star-studded thriller "Bird Box" and "Dumplin'," a musical comedy with Jennifer Aniston.

Also available in December: Andy Serkis' live-action "Mowgli" movie, Marvel's "Avengers: Infinity War," an Ellen DeGeneres comedy special and "Springsteen on Broadway," just after the smash ends its Broadway run.

Below is the full list of what's coming and going, with descriptions of Netflix's original content. (And here's our November list.)

Dec. 1

8 Mile

Astro Boy

Battle (Netflix Film) A Nordic dance flick for "Step Up" fans.

Bride of Chucky

Christine

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Crossroads: One Two Jaga (Netflix Film) In this Malaysian crime drama, an abused domestic worker tries to escape.

Friday

Friday After Next

Hellboy

Man vs Wild with Sunny Leone: Season 1

Meet Joe Black

Memories of the Alhambra (Netflix Original, streaming weekly on Saturdays) A suspenseful, romantic Korean series about CEO and a woman who owns a hostel.

My Bloody Valentine

Next Friday

Reindeer Games

Seven Pounds

Shaun of the Dead

Terminator Salvation

The Big Lebowski

The Last Dragon

The Man Who Knew Too Little

Dec. 2

The Lobster

Dec. 3

Blue Planet II: Season 1

Hero Mask (Netflix Original) Anime series about mysterious bio-masks that has a trailer with plenty of close-up shots of beverages and cell phones

The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot Season 2 (Netflix Original) The Korean comedy follows Cho Seok and his family.

Dec. 4

District 9

Dec. 6

Happy!: Season 1

Dec. 7

5 Star Christmas (Netflix Film) An Italian comedy that mixes politics, scandal and the holidays.

Bad Blood (Netflix Original) A crime drama inspired by the true story of the Canada-based Rizzuto family.

Dogs of Berlin (Netflix Film) Two cops join team up to search for a killer after a German soccer star is murdered.

Dumplin' (Netflix Film) Jennifer Aniston stars as an ex-beauty queen mom to Danielle Macdonald's Willowdean, who enters a pageant out of spite.

Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (Netflix Original) A British kids' show about about a holiday ball and a family secret.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (Netflix Film) The other live-action "Jungle Book" film. The first was directed by Jon Favreau; this one's from Andy Serkis and follows Mowgli as he's confronted with his human origins.

Nailed It! Holiday! (Netflix Original) A festive version of the cooking competition show.

Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas (Netflix Original) The animated series, featuring the voices of Jaden Smith, Jude Law and Tavi Gevinson, has a Secret Santa competition.

Pine Gap (Netflix Original) An Australian show set at an intelligence facility in remote Alice Springs

ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay? (Netflix Original) The music documentary series covers the mysterious murder of Run D.M.C. DJ Jam Master Jay.

Super Monsters and the Wish Star (Netflix Original) The animated children's show celebrates Christmas.

The American Meme (Netflix Original) The documentary, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, tracks the rise (and fall) of social-media stars such as Paris Hilton and Josh "The Fat Jew" Ostrovsky.

The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur) (Netflix Original) In this French comedy series, Elsa's friends come up with an unusual plan for helping their perpetually-single bud: Secretly set her up with a male escort.

The Ranch: Part 6 (Netflix Original)The comedy series returns as Ashton Kutcher's Colt prepares to become a dad.

Dec. 9

Sin senos sí hay paraíso: Season 3

Dec. 10

Michael Jackson's This Is It

Dec. 11

Vir Das: Losing It (Netflix Original) Indian stand-up comic Vir Das talks travel, religion and more.

Dec. 12

Back Street Girls: Gokudols (Netflix Original) In this anime series with a wild premise, three brothers from a crime syndicate are forced to alter their bodies and form a J-Pop girl group.

Out of Many, One (Netflix Original) This documentary follows legal immigrants preparing for naturalization tests in America.

Dec. 13

Wanted: Season 3 (Netflix Original) In its third season, Lola goes to Australia in a witness protection program.

Dec. 14

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: "A Midwinter's Tale" (Netflix Original) Kiernan Shipka's half-witch is back for more devilish fun.

Cuckoo: Season 4 (Netflix Original) In this British comedy, Dale (Taylor Lautner) tries a new career.

Dance & Sing with True: Songs (Netflix Original) The animated Canadian show wants kids to sing and dance.

Fuller House: Season 4 (Netflix Original) The Tanner-Fuller-Gibblers are back, as DJ and Steve rekindle their old flame.

Inside the Real Narcos: Series 1 (Netflix Original) In the docuseries, an ex-Special Forces commando interviews cartel members.

Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 3 (Netflix Original) Investigative journalist Raphael Rowe visits prisons in Colombia, Costa Rica, Romania and Norway.

Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle (Netflix Original) A story for kids about a snowed-in bowling alley and a Christmas moose.

Roma (Netflix Film) Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón directs this black-and-white Oscar contender about a middle-class family in Mexico City.

Sunderland Til I Die (Netflix Original) A docuseries that follows the Sutherland English soccer club.

The Fix (Netflix Original) A panel of comedians come up with solutions to real-world problems.

The Innocent Man (Netflix Original) A docuseries based on John Grisham's book of the same name, focused on two horrific crimes committed in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma in the 1980s.

The Protector (Netflix Original) Turkish actor Çagatay Ulusoy stars as a man with new mystical powers trying to solve the mystery of his past.

Tidelands (Netflix Original) An ominous Australian show with an ex-con who returns to her fishing village filled with secrets.

Travelers: Season 3 (Netflix Original) The Canadian sci-fi drama about four people tracked by a federal agent.

Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 8 (Netflix Original) This animated "Power Rangers"-style kids' series focuses on five heroes and their flying robot lions.

Dec. 16

Baby Mama

Kill the Messenger

One Day

Springsteen on Broadway (Netflix Original) A filmed version of Bruce Springsteen's one-man acoustic Broadway show.

The Theory of Everything

Dec. 18

Baki (Netflix Original) In the Japanese anime series, martial-arts champion Baki Hanma trains to surpass his father.

Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable (Netflix Original) Talk-show host DeGeneres' new stand-up special.

Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5 (Netflix Original) The Japanese "Real World"-style reality series continues with a possible love triangle.

Dec. 21

3Below: Tales of Arcadia (Netflix Original) A sci-fi cartoon created by Guillermo del Toro about two royal teen aliens who crash-land in Arcadia.

7 Days Out (Netflix Original) The docuseries captures behind-the-scenes drama from the week leading up to events including the Kentucky Derby.

Back With the Ex (Netflix Original) A reality show that follows reuniting exes.

Bad Seeds (Netflix Film) A French movie about a scam artist who finds redemption.

Bird Box (Netflix Film) Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes and John Malkovich star in a post-apocalyptic thriller adapted from the novel.

Wolf (Boru) (Netflix Original) A Turkish series about a special security unit.

Derry Girls (Netflix Original) A comedy series set in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s about a group of teens.

Diablero (Netflix Original) A horror series set in Mexico City about a young priest who enlists the help of a demon hunter and a paranormal expert.

Greenleaf: Season 3

Last Hope: Part 2 (Netflix Original) The anime series about an ecological disaster continues.

Perfume (Netflix Original) A German thriller about a perfumer who kills female students at a boarding school to distill their essence.

Sirius the Jaeger (Netflix Original) An anime series about people who secretly hunt vampires.

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (Netflix Film) Polish artist Stanisław Szukalski's life story is discovered by undergound L.A. artists.

Tales by Light: Season 3 (Netflix Original) The series about photographers explores neighborhoods of India, the reefs of Indonesia, and the back country of Australia.

The Casketeers (Netflix Original) A New Zealand reality show about a funeral-home business.

Dec. 24

Hi Score Girl (Netflix Original) An anime series about a gamer who meets his (unlikely) match at an arcade.

The Magicians: Season 3

Dec. 25

Watership Down: Limited Series (Netflix Original) James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, John Boyega voice characters in this animated series about rabbits, inspired by the Richard Adams novel.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Season 11

Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War

Dec. 26

Alexa & Katie: Season 2 (Netflix Original) The show about high school best friends.

You

Dec. 28

Instant Hotel (Netflix Original) Australian reality-travel show that features homeowners competing for the title of best "Instant Hotel."

La noche de 12 anos (Netflix Film) The future president of Uruguay holds three political prisoners captive.

Selection Day (Netflix Original) An Indian series about a boy who tries out for a cricket team.

When Angels Sleep (Netflix Film) A string of dark events are set in motion by a businessman, who falls asleep at the wheel and hits a woman.

Yummy Mummies (Netflix Original) An Australian reality series about the extravagant lifestyles of four expectant mothers preparing for newborns.

Dec. 30

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Dec. 31

The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man

And here's everything expiring in December

Leaving Dec. 1

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever

Groundhog Day

Happily N'Ever After

Happily N'Ever After 2: Snow White

Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Hellraiser

Sons of Anarchy: Season 1

Sons of Anarchy: Season 2

Sons of Anarchy: Season 3

Sons of Anarchy: Season 4

Sons of Anarchy: Season 5

Sons of Anarchy: Season 6

Sons of Anarchy: Season 7

Spider-Man 3

Spy Hard

Stephen King's Children of the Corn

Swept Under

The Covenant

The Game

Leaving Dec. 4

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch

Air Bud: Spikes Back

Air Bud: World Pup

Air Buddies

Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales

Spooky Buddies

Tarzan & Jane

The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos

The Search for Santa Paws

Tinker Bell

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

Leaving Dec. 7

Trolls

Leaving Dec. 10

Battle Royale

Battle Royale 2

Teeth

Leaving Dec. 15

Step Up 2: The Streets

Leaving Dec. 16

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Leaving Dec. 17

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Leaving Dec. 19

Ip Man: The Final Fight

Leaving Dec. 20

Food, Inc.

I Give It a Year

Moana

Leaving Dec. 22

Spotlight

Leaving Dec. 25

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Leaving Dec. 31

Troy

Pros and cons of VAR in football | The Week

The English football referees’ body has apologised to Arsenal after “human error” was to blame for an incorrect VAR decision that allowed Brentford’s equaliser to stand in last weekend’s Premier League game.

Former top referee Howard Webb, who is now in charge of Premier League officials, also apologised to Brighton after they had a goal disallowed for offside against Crystal Palace because VAR guidelines were wrongly drawn.

The twin controversies have put VAR “once again under the microscope”. The technology is facing scrutiny “from fans and managers alike”, said the Independent after a survey for Sky Sports found that 67% of fans believe VAR makes watching football less enjoyable.

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1. Pro: can help referees

VAR was introduced to football in the early 2010s to minimise human error and help referees make the right decision. Standing for “video assistant referee”, it allows certain incidents to be reviewed by the main referee or by the VAR team, helping the correct decisions to be made.

The VAR team helps referees in four scenarios: goals and offences leading up to a goal; penalty decisions and offences leading up to a penalty decision; direct red card incidents and mistaken identity, explained Fifa. A wrong decision in these scenarios can swing a game, so supporters hope it will make the game fairer.

2. Con: disrupts the game

When there is a potential goal or penalty, the referee has to pause the match and review the footage on a screen. Sometimes, this process takes several minutes, which disrupts the flow of the match and means players stand around waiting, which can impair their performance. VAR is “taking the spontaneity away from the game”, wrote former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore for Caught Offside.

“It’s clear that football is fairer but it’s also clear that VAR has had an impact on the flow of the game,” David Elleray, a former Premier League referee, told Four Four Two. “Inevitably if you are going to stop the game to look at a replay, that involves stopping the flow of the game.”

3. Pro: more excitement

VAR has “helped to add an extra layer of excitement to matches”, said Digital Mahbub. It argued that “the suspense of waiting for a decision from the VAR officials can often be just as thrilling as watching the match itself”.

Legendary referee Pierluigi Collina also feels that the technology increases the thrill of the game, said Goal. “I don’t think VAR kills the excitement of a goal celebration, if anything it increases the level of excitement,” he said. “You get to celebrate twice, when scoring and when it’s confirmed.”

4. Con: produces mistakes

VAR has not eliminated mistakes from the game. Last weekend alone, offside checks surrounding key goals “cost Arsenal and Brighton victories” while Chelsea were “controversially not awarded a penalty in their London derby against West Ham”, said the Independent.

Referees chief Howard Webb contacted Arsenal and Brighton to “acknowledge and explain” the “significant errors”. Last December, the BBC noted that Premier League video assistant referees had made a number of “incorrect interventions” this season and “missed another six incidents when they should have stepped in”.

5. Pro: greater player discipline

Supporters of VAR argue that the enhanced scrutiny of players has led to greater discipline on the field. “Behaviour is better,” Elleray told Four Four Two.

He added that there has been a “significant reduction” in diving, a “general reduction in players mobbing and arguing with referees” and “fewer players getting away with violence on the field behind the referee’s back”.

6. Con: dehumanises the game

“One of football’s charms is that it’s an unpredictable sport”, where “anything can happen” and “part of this is due to human error – whether it’s a mistake by a player, coach or referee,” said Digital Mahbub. VAR “takes away from this element of unpredictability” and detracts from the “human element of the game”, it added.

This dehumanising element could lead to poorer refereeing, believes Collymore. “We’ve now got a situation where referees are having their natural skills blunted because they know they can always rely on VAR,” he wrote.

Chas Newkey-Burden
The Week Uk
Harriet Marsden
The Week Us
Mike Starling
The Week Staff
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