Willy Fautre, Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, said that Qatar is due to defend its human rights record at the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva this week, with concerns surrounding their treatment of World Cup workers likely to come to the fore.

The EU has a unique opportunity to push its labour rights agenda in the Gulf state, with the tournament throwing the country's dismal record on migrant workers firmly into the spotlight, Fautre wrote in an article to EUobserver.

Concerns around Qatar's suitability to host the tournament have abounded since the shock decision to award them the competition in 2010.

Allegations of bribery, extreme heat rendering football matches unsafe and a total lack of footballing pedigree have all been cited as arguments against their right to host.

However, of all of these concerns, the country's appalling human rights record is chief amongst these.

This has been tragically borne out in the deaths of hundreds of workers, labouring to make the tiny Gulf emirate ready to host the world's biggest sporting event.

The Trade Union Confederation estimates that if conditions don't improve, at least 4,000 workers will have died on the job by the time the competition kicks off.

This will be FIFA's most damning black mark to date in an already deeply troubling copybook.

For years, European Parliamentary and Commission figures have repeatedly expressed concerns about these issues.

On several occasions, Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, has been the bloc's leading voice of criticism.

It is now time for the EU to step up where footballing authorities have failed and hold Qatar to account for its shameful treatment of migrant labourers.