Family of worker killed on Saudi World Cup site still waiting for compensation a year on

Lengthy delays in compensation are ‘emblematic’ of what many relatives of migrant workers go through in the Gulf kingdom, say rights groups

Mohammad Arshad died in March 2025, while working on a high platform at Aramco Stadium in the eastern city of Al Khobar. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.

When Mohammad Arshad fell to his death while constructing the first new stadium for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, one of the main stadium contractors, the Belgian construction multinational Besix, promised it would take immediate steps to ensure all end-of-service and insurance payments were, “handled in a timely and respectful manner”.

Almost a year later, Arshad’s family say they have yet to receive either.