200 workers left outside without water

MORE than 200 Indian catering workers hired for the opening game were left stranded outside the Al Bayt Stadium for six hours without food or water yesterday. Sportsmail spoke to several of the workers, who have been recruited as cashiers by catering company Qatar Star Services, outside the new £650million stadium with many unhappy at their treatment. The group of 205 men and seven women were collected from their accommodation at 9am and dropped off at the stadium at 10am, but were not admitted to the ground until 4pm.

All of the workers have signed a month-long contract with Qatar Star Services, with the company demanding that they work every day. Accommodation and one meal a day is provided in addition to their wages. one of the workers said: ‘We are all cashiers but cannot get into the ground. They are not ready for us.

‘We’ve been here since 10am, but cannot go inside until 4pm. We’ve had no food or drink, nothing.’

Sportsmail spoke to another group of 20 female staff from the Philippines, who had been employed to sell merchandise in the stadium. They were left to wait outside for three hours without any food or water.