A whistleblower to the Qatar World Cup has reportedly been arrested in Jordan just a fortnight before he is scheduled to appear before a US court as part of a lawsuit detailing forced labour and human trafficking tied to the 2022 tournament.
Abdullah Ibhais, a Jordanian and a former World Cup official who has become an advocate for migrant rights, was reportedly arrested by the Jordanian military intelligence service, the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), in the capital Amman. Family members say he was arrested in front of his two sons outside a mosque on Thursday and that no arrest warrant was shown.
Reports say that he was subsequently released, but family says that lawyers were previously unable to locate him.
Previously, he served three years in jail in Qatar, having been convicted in 2021 of bribery and other financial irregularities in a trial Amnesty International labeled “unfair,” and Ibhais states was intended to silence his criticisms about the exploitation of migrant workers.
He had been given his US visa on August 6 and was scheduled to give a deposition voluntarily in US District Court on August 20.
The family alleges that Jordanian authorities had previously taken his passport and threatened him over the ongoing calls for rights.
The arrest has raised further fears for his safety and the potential that he may be silenced in the build-up to Thursday’s deposition.
