Qatar World Cup chief finally admits horrifying death toll of migrant workers in shock Piers Morgan Talk TV interview
A QATARI chief has finally admitted the horrifying death toll of workers who helped ready the country for the World Cup.
World Cup boss Hassan Al-Thawadi admitted as many 500 workmen have died when he was confronted by Piers Morgan.
Qatar spent nearly £200 billion preparing the country to host the tournament after winning the bid in 2010.
Massive infrastructure projects have ranged from completely renewing a whole city to eight brand new stadiums.
But hanging over the tournament has been fears over the treatment of Qatar's two million migrant workers.
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Some estimates said as many as 6,500 had died since the successful bid - something which Qataris had previously been branded a "myth".
The death toll reported by Qatar last year was just three.
But now, Mr Al-Thawadi admitted the death toll could be as much as 167 times higher than this estimate.
Piers quizzed him on the migrant worker deaths, during which he confessed as many as 500 people had died.
"The estimate is around 400 - between 400 and 500 - I don't have the exact number, that is something that is being discussed," Mr Al-Thawadi told TalkTV.
Piers pushed him, saying that this amount of deaths was a "big price to pay".
The official however said that health and safety standards have vastly improved since they won the World Cup.
Mr Al-Thawadi said: "One is death is a death too many, plain and simple.
"As FIFA prepares to rake in billions in revenue from sponsors and broadcasters, many migrant worker families still mourn the death of their loved ones and struggle to feed their children or pay off loans their loved ones took out to pay illegal World Cup recruitment fees."