[Source: Reuters]

An activist group erected protest billboards in FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s Swiss home town of Brig to demand the world soccer body compensate migrant workers for alleged human rights abuses in Qatar.

The mobile billboards carried the messages “Infantino: your family were migrants”, “Thousands like them were victims of this World Cup”, and “Compensate them now”.

The protest by the Avaaz campaign group included an Infantino impersonator holding a World Cup trophy.

Qatar, where foreigners make up most of the 2.9 million population, has faced intense criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers.

FIFA had no direct comment on the protest but pointed to comments by Infantino last month hailing a fund that Qatar set up in 2018 that has paid out $350 million to workers in cases mainly linked to late or non-payment of wages.

Amnesty and other rights groups have led calls for FIFA to compensate migrant workers in Qatar for human rights abuses by setting aside $440 million, matching the World Cup prize money.