FIFA must ensure that human rights are fully protected in bids to host the 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cups through rigorous and transparent procedures, and reject abusive proposals that would once again tarnish the world’s largest sporting event, Amnesty International said in a report released today.
Reports, Playing a dangerous game? Human rights risks associated with the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups, It is assessing human rights risks associated with a joint bid by Morocco, Spain and Portugal to play extra matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay for the 2030 World Cup final, as well as a bid by Saudi Arabia to host the tournament in 2034. A detailed bid proposal, including a human rights strategy, is due to be submitted to FIFA for assessment in the coming weeks, with football’s governing body due to confirm the host country in December.
Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of labour rights and sport, said:
“With only one bid to host each tournament and significant human rights issues surrounding both tournaments, there are serious doubts about whether FIFA intends to stick to the commitments and reforms it has made in recent years, and whether it will exercise its right to reject bids that do not meet its stated human rights requirements.”
There are big doubts about whether FIFA has the will to stick to the commitments and reforms it has made in recent years.
Steve Cockburn, head of labour rights and sport at Amnesty International
“While the human rights issues surrounding a joint 2030 World Cup bid are significant and need to be addressed, the risks associated with Saudi Arabia’s 2034 FIFA World Cup bid, including the risks faced by workers, fans and journalists, are of an entirely different scale and severity.”
“History has shown that the World Cup can be a source of dignity or exploitation, inclusion or discrimination, freedom or oppression. FIFA’s awarding of the hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments is one of the most significant decisions ever taken by a sporting body.”
Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, a coalition that includes Amnesty International that campaigns for human rights in sport, said:
“Before FIFA decides to go ahead with any tournaments, it must ensure there are binding human rights agreements in place that fully protect workers, communities, players and fans, including protections against abuse and discrimination against racial and religious minorities, women and LGBTI people.”
FIFA must secure binding human rights agreements that fully protect workers, communities, players and fans before awarding any tournaments.
Andrea Florence, Director of the Sports & Rights Alliance
FIFA has called for bidders to consult civil society organisations, including human rights groups, but this has not happened. FIFA has not responded to Amnesty International’s request to speak to the consultants involved in the human rights assessment of the bid.
FIFA’s failure to adequately ensure human rights protections during the selection of previous World Cup hosting locations has contributed to human rights violations. During the 2022 final held in Qatar, workers involved in the organization of the tournament suffered serious harm, including death and injury.
The new report is based on research by Amnesty International and partners from the Sports Rights Alliance. A summary of the report was shared with FIFA, national football associations and government authorities of the hosting countries and any responses received have been included in the report, which will be made public.
The risks of hosting the 2030 World Cup
A joint 2030 hosting bid by Morocco, Portugal and Spain – with three matches to be played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – carries human rights risks, mainly related to labour rights, discrimination, freedom of expression and assembly, policing, privacy and housing.
In Morocco, major construction works will be required, including the construction of a new stadium that can accommodate 115,000 people, but legislation to strengthen workplace health and safety has yet to be passed, raising concerns about forced evictions. In the three proposed host countries, migrant workers are at risk of exploitation, trafficking and other harms. Workplace injuries in Spain and Portugal are higher than the EU average. Migrant workers have suffered abuse and wage theft during the expansion of FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium in 2023.
The influx of people due to the World Cup could exacerbate severe affordable housing shortages in Portugal and Spain, including a rise in short-term rentals, driving up housing costs and risking evictions for existing residents.
Excessive use of force by police is a proven risk in all three countries, including the use of rubber bullets at football and other settings. Police in Spain and Portugal have been the subject of numerous complaints from fans at home and abroad. The right to privacy may also be threatened by intrusive spyware and biometric surveillance, particularly in Morocco and Spain.
FIFA, in an independent evaluation of Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup, cited the criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct as “particularly problematic.” Other aspects of Moroccan law continue to perpetuate the risk of gender discrimination against female workers and tournament participants, including the criminalization of sex outside of marriage, which often prevents women from reporting cases of sexual violence.
Morocco restricts freedom of expression by criminalizing criticism of Islam, the monarchy, state institutions, the military, and the state’s territorial integrity. Journalists and human rights defenders have been harassed, arbitrarily detained, assaulted, and prosecuted for criticizing the government, particularly in relation to the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
Racism is a problem in all three states, with racist attacks against black soccer players such as Spain’s Vinicius Junior, Portugal’s Moussa Marega, and Morocco’s Chancel Mbemba. According to a 2020 survey of soccer officials, 60% of people in Portugal believe that racism exists in soccer.
FIFA has committed to halving its carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching “net zero” by 2040 on climate change, but with the tournament expanding to 48 teams and spanning three continents, greenhouse gas emissions from tournament-related travel are likely to be significant.
Risks to Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is abysmal, and its application for membership carries far-reaching and very serious risks. The country has spent billions of dollars in recent years on a campaign to rehabilitate its image, relying heavily on investment in sports, including football, to distract from its record of egregious human rights abuses. The draft penal code is likely to further entrench many human rights violations in law.
The Games will require significant construction projects that will increase the risks of forced evictions, which have occurred along existing construction projects, including reports of the use of lethal force in the removal of settlements linked to The Line, part of the NEOM city construction project.
Building and hosting the Games will require hundreds of thousands of workers, most of whom are foreign nationals who make up the majority of the private sector workforce and are at serious risk of exploitation. Kafala The system legally binds migrant workers’ immigration status to their employers or sponsors, leaving workers with limited recourse if they suffer wage theft, violence or other abuses.
Discrimination is deeply ingrained in laws and practices and can affect fans, workers, players and journalists. Female fans face the risk of unfair and disproportionate prosecution under laws that criminalize sexual conduct outside marriage. These laws are often used to silence victims of sexual violence, including rape, and can lead to indefinite detention. Male guardianship systems are discriminatory against women and girls.
Despite assurances from the Saudi Tourism Authority that “everyone is welcome,” LGBTI people have no legal protections and often face prosecution under the country’s vague and overly broad public order laws and anti-cybercrime laws.
The public practice of any religion other than Islam is prohibited, and the Shiite Muslim minority faces severe discrimination: 12 Shiite supporters of Al-Safa Football Club were recently sentenced to six months to one year in prison for chanting folk religious chants during a match.
There is little to no freedom of expression, association, or assembly. Independent human rights organizations, political parties, and trade unions are not recognized, and there have been mass arrests and imprisonment of journalists, human rights defenders, political activists, writers, clergy, and women’s rights activists. Nearly all human rights defenders are currently under trial, serving prison terms, subject to travel bans, or in exile. Broad anti-terrorism laws are used to prosecute activists, carrying sentences of up to 45 years in prison and even the death penalty for “directly or indirectly” insulting the King or Crown Prince.
Women’s Rights
There is no independent media, and journalists who criticize the government face censorship, imprisonment and repression. Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in Turkey in 2018 in a Saudi Arabian government-sanctioned killing. Authorities block various websites and crack down on individuals online. Salma Al-Shehab, a Saudi Arabian doctoral student at the University of Leeds in the UK, was detained and sentenced to 27 years in prison for her Twitter activity. Fitness instructor Manahel Al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tweeting in support of women’s rights. Online accounts of critics were hacked and Pegasus spyware was used to target the mobile phones of women’s rights activists, political dissidents, journalists and their families.
Fans and migrant workers traveling to watch the tournament may believe they will escape the death penalty, but 39% of people executed in Saudi Arabia between 2010 and 2021 were foreigners, including for non-violent crimes such as drug charges. Amnesty International has documented Saudi Arabia’s executions of 172 people across at least 13 countries in 2023, six of whom were women.
Amnesty International campaigns and petitions for the release of activists and others detained for speaking out for change.
Remedies and Recommendations
Preventing human rights violations related to the 2030 FIFA World Cup will require measures to strengthen labor rights, combat discrimination, protect housing rights, and enable freedom of expression.
More fundamental reforms are needed to prevent violations related to Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, including fundamental changes to labor laws to protect workers and the release of unjustly imprisoned activists and human rights defenders.
The report’s key recommendations include that FIFA conduct a truly independent human rights risk assessment of each host city bid, monitor and enforce its implementation with a rigorous system that includes a grievance mechanism and access to effective redress, and secure binding commitments from host countries to prevent human rights abuses.
FIFA must also ensure the meaningful participation of civil society organisations, trade unions, fan representatives, players’ unions and groups facing discrimination throughout the bidding process and preparations for the tournament.
The report further states that FIFA must not award the World Cup to any bid that does not guarantee human rights, and must terminate any agreement to host the tournament if human rights are put at risk or violated.