2018 World Cup logo (Photo : Facebook)
Russia wants to use prison labor in preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, according to an AP report. The prisoners would cut the labor costs by doing tasks that would not appeal to an "ordinary citizen"
Russian lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party Alexander Khinshtein made the new proposal, according to NBC Sports. The prisoners would work in factories, rather than on stadium construction projects.
Khinshtein explained that the proposed program would lower the cost of building materials. Moreover, it will be "very positive" for the Russian prisoners to land a job when they join the society.
Past prison labor programs in Russia have faced allegations of labor law violations, which includes accusations that prisoners often work long hours and receive very low salaries.
In 2013, an imprisoned punk band member in Russia went on a hunger strike. She was protesting her prison camp's bad working conditions.
A key driving force of the prison labor proposal is the nose-diving Russian ruble. Its value is one-third less than at the beginning of 2014, making the $12.7 billion World Cup budget higher due to the lower ruble-to-USD value.
In the newly-proposed labor program, Russian prisoners will earn about $300 a month for their full-time work in preparation for the world's biggest soccer event.
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has been under fire as the organizer of the World Cup. Qatar, the 2022 host nation, has recently seen a high rate of migrant worker deaths, according to Huffington Post.
World Cup 2018 will start in June 2018 and will last for one month. This will be Russia's first time as the host country for the world football event.
