Since Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup, thousands of migrant workers have died. In search for answers, journalism platform Blankspot collected stories directly from their families. They then created Cards of Qatar – a catalogue of football cards that instead of facts about players tell the stories of the workers who never returned.

Thousands of migrant workers have died since Qatar was awarded to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In a catalogue of football cards, facts about the players have been exchanged for the deceased migrant workers and their fate. At the launch of Cards of Qatar 33 dead migrant workers from rural Nepal, Bangladesh and India are published. Their relatives have told Blankspot the real story of their close ones. The cards will be followed by long-form articles and interviews with players, politicians and workers’ organisations.

Blankspot will start with publishing 33 cards, then their ambition is to publish a story every day during the four months that are left until kick-off in Doha. They will send out colleagues in India, Nepal and Bangladesh to find more stories if they manage to crowdsource the resources for that. The bulk of this work has been done by local journalists in these countries and they are looking for more contributors from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Kenya and The Philippines.