Responding to FIFA’s assessment of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 Men’s World Cup, Steve Cockburn, director of labor rights and sport at Amnesty International, said:
“As expected, FIFA’s assessment of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the World Cup is a shocking whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record. There are no meaningful commitments to prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being deported, or activists from being expelled. arrest.
“Having ignored clear evidence of serious human rights risks, FIFA is likely to bear significant responsibility for the violations and abuses that will occur over the next decade. Fundamental human rights reforms are urgently needed in Saudi Arabia, otherwise the 2034 World Cup will not be possible avoid being tainted by exploitation, discrimination and repression.
FIFA’s assessment of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is a shocking whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record
Steve Cockburn, Head of Labor Rights and Sports at Amnesty International
In response to FIFA releasing a long-delayed independent report providing redress for migrant workers who suffered abuse during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar:
“There is no mystery why FIFA sought to hide this independent report for so long – it clearly concluded that the organization had a responsibility to ensure redress was provided, including to the hundreds of thousands of workers who suffered abuse during the 2022 World Cup. Provide compensation. It validates what human rights groups, unions, fans and even FIFA’s own human rights subcommittee have been saying all along – it’s time for FIFA to pay the price.
“Incredibly, in the same week that FIFA finally released this report, it not only launched a legacy fund with no redress for workers, but turned its back on the Saudis regardless of the likely human cost. Unless FIFA finally takes action to compensate workers and Saudi Arabia enacts real human rights reforms, history will repeat itself and workers will pay the price again.
background
FIFA gave Saudi Arabia a “medium” human rights risk rating when evaluating its bid to host the 2034 World Cup. This strategy was not consistent with FIFA’s own human rights bid requirements, despite evidence provided in recent reports by Amnesty International and the Alliance for Sport and Rights that the bid’s human rights strategy did not address serious and possible human rights risks. Amnesty International and ten other organizations also highlighted in October that AS&H Clifford Chance’s independent human rights assessment was seriously flawed and ignored key human rights issues.
A number of organizations, including Amnesty International, have called on FIFA to provide compensation to workers and families exploited in preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In March 2023, FIFA agreed to commission an independent report to determine whether there was a duty to do so. Although the report was completed in December 2023, it was not released until midnight on November 29, 2024. Endorsed by the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Rights. However, on Wednesday, November 27, FIFA launched the 2022 World Cup Legacy Fund, which does not include any compensation for workers.
