On the outskirts of Doha, labourers watch World Cup they built

Their treatment has been the controversial backstory of the World Cup. They can face low wages, inhospitable housing and long hours, often in the scorching heat.

Laborers cheer at a fan festival at the Asian Town cricket stadium in Doha, Qatar. 

FAR from Doha’s luxury hotels and sprawling new World Cup stadiums, scores of South Asian workers poured into a cricket ground in the city’s sandy outskirts to enjoy the tournament they helped create.

Unlike the official FIFA fan zone near Doha’s pristine corniche, this one has no $14 beer or foreign tourists. There are few food options beyond deep-fried Indian snacks, scant soccer jerseys in the crowd and even fewer women.