FIFA and Human Rights
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FIFA and the United Bid
Unveiled in 2017, the North American bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup beat Morocco’s bid by a vote of 134-65 to secure the tournament.
FIFA’s Response to Human Rights Infractions
Due to repeated human rights concerns associated with the FIFA World Cup, FIFA instituted human rights regulations for the 2026 iteration of the tournament. Each host city now must create and make public a human rights plan (see each host city page for links to these plans where and when they’ve been made public).
In May of 2017, the organization released FIFA’s Human Rights Policy. Among the areas of concern highlighted, FIFA has made public commitments in the following areas:
Labour Rights
“FIFA strives to uphold and promote the highest international
labour standards, in particular the principles enshrined in the eight core
International Labour Organization conventions”
Discrimination
“Article 4 of the FIFA Statutes prohibits discrimination of any kind against a
country, private person or group of people on account of race, skin colour,
ethnic, national or social origin, gender, disability, language, religion,
political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any other status,
sexual orientation or any other reason”
Land Acquisition and Housing Rights
“FIFA expects and promotes the respect of
international human rights standards where land acquisition involves
expropriations and in particular where people are resettled in the process”
“FIFA is committed to respecting
all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights.”
-FIFA’s Human Rights Policy
Human Rights, Equity, and Justice Concerns Abound
Despite the organization’s stated commitments, there remain many(!) human rights and justice-related concerns associated with the FIFA World Cup 2026 and future tournaments. See below for relevant reports, and get in touch if. you have any others you’d like to see on the site!
Relevant Reports
