The festivities of the 2022 FIFA World Cup were besmirched by reports pertaining to workers losing their lives during the preparations for the prestigious tournament. Initial reports suggested that around 40 people — mostly migrant workers — died as Qatar pushed the timeline to host the 29-day Finals tournament.

In a shocking revelation, Qatari World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi has now confessed to a much higher death toll than initially believed. Renowned broadcaster Piers Morgan guested the high-ranking Qatari executive in an exclusive interview wherein Al-Thawadi revealed that up to 500 workers lost their lives during the build-up of the tournament:

“Between 400 and 500,” Al-Thawadi said (h/t TMZ Sports). “I don't have the exact number. That's something that's being discussed.

“One death is too many. It's as simple as that.”

That is simply shocking. Reports suggest that the working conditions for the workers were sub-standard, to say the least. The majority of the deaths were attributed to non-work related issues such as sickness, but there were also more than a few lives lost during worksite accidents.

Al-Tahawadi conceded that Qatar had its shortcomings, but that the nation had also already implemented significant improvements in its health and safety standards since it won the bid to host the World Cup back in 2010:

Does this mean that more lives would have been lost if Qatar did not make the aforementioned improvements? The World Cup tournament is arguably the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, but losing lives over it is simply unacceptable, to say the least.