Amnesty urges Fifa to assess human rights risks before awarding World Cups
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A picture of Fifa's logo near its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON – Fifa and countries bidding to host the World Cup should agree to binding commitments and legal reforms to prevent human rights violations connected to the tournament, Amnesty International said.
In October 2023, football’s world governing body awarded the 2030 global showpiece to Morocco, Spain and Portugal while Saudi Arabia is the lone bidder for the 2034 edition, with Amnesty saying on June 5 that there are “serious human rights risks” for both that must be addressed.
“Fifa should ensure a rigorous and transparent bidding process, based on meaningful stakeholder participation, including genuinely independent human rights risk assessments and comprehensive human rights strategies,” the human rights organisation said.
“Fifa should be prepared not to award the rights to host the World Cup until such agreements are made, and until it is clear that human rights violations can and will be prevented, mitigated and remedied.”
Amnesty also said the commitments must prevent human rights violations in relation to “labour rights, discrimination, housing, freedom of expression, policing and privacy” before finalising a decision to approve any bid.
Fifa had included human rights standards as part of the bidding requirements for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, but Amnesty fears single bids for each tournament will undercut its leverage to ensure there are no violations.
The football body had set a July deadline for the submission of bids for the 2034 World Cup, which will then be evaluated and the hosts will be officially appointed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The 2030 event has been finalised, but Amnesty’s latest remarks came as accident rates at construction projects in Spain and Portugal are above EU levels, while discrimination in stadiums in Spain is a serious issue as it highlighted the numerous incidents of racism suffered by Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr.
It also said that Morocco and Portugal must increase the number of labour inspectors by over 50 per cent to meet International Labour Organisation benchmarks.
Amnesty has shared its report with Fifa. Reuters has contacted Fifa and the football associations of the countries bidding for the World Cup for comment.
As for the 2034 tournament, Amnesty said the risks associated with hosting the tournament in Saudi Arabia are of a “different magnitude and severity” that will test Fifa’s commitment to its human rights policies.
Amnesty researcher Dana Ahmed said that although she was allowed to do research on migrant workers in Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, leading to several reforms, she has not had any access in Saudi Arabia.
"It is extremely difficult to do research from the outside," she added.
Reuters has contacted Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Sport for comment. REUTERS
