Amnesty said migrant workers are often subjected to non-payment of wages, dangerous working conditions and squalid accommodation.

Workers said they were “treated like cattle”, working up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, including during Qatar’s hot summer months.

Some migrant workers were threatened with fines, deportation or loss of income if they did not show up to work even though they were not being paid.

More than 1,000 people were admitted to the trauma unit at Doha’s main hospital in 2012 having fallen from height at work, Amnesty said, citing an unnamed hospital representative.

Salil Shetty, Amnesty’s secretary general, said: “Our findings indicate an alarming level of exploitation in the construction sector in Qatar.

“FIFA has a duty to send a strong public message that it will not tolerate human rights abuses on construction projects related to the World Cup.

“Qatar is recruiting migrant workers at a remarkable rate to support its construction boom, with the population increasing at 20 people an hour.

“Many migrants arrive in Qatar full of hopes, only to have these crushed soon after they arrive. There’s no time to delay – the government must act now to end this abuse.

“Construction companies and the Qatari authorities alike are failing migrant workers.

“Employers in Qatar have displayed an appalling disregard for the basic human rights of migrant workers. Many are taking advantage of a permissive environment and lax enforcement of labour protections to exploit construction workers.”