Fifa urged to make human rights key consideration for World Cup 2030 host

The sport’s governing body has been told to follow its human rights and bidding criteria

Fifa has been urged to make human rights a key consideration to the host of the 2030 World Cup (PA Archive)

Fifa has been urged to make human rights a key consideration when they decide which countries host the 2030 World Cup.

The Sport & Rights Alliance, a global coalition of human rights groups, trade unions, players and fans, has told football’s governing body to follow its own human rights and bidding criteria.

Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice, Steve Cockburn, said: “Fifa must rigorously apply the highest human rights standards in evaluating all bids to host its flagship tournament, demand clear human rights action plans, and reject any bid that fails to credibly show how serious human rights risks would be prevented, independently monitored and remedied if abuses occur.”

Saudi Arabia is expected to try and stage either the 2030 or 2034 World Cup, possibly in a joint bid with Egypt and Greece. Other probable bids come from South America, with Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay joining forces, and a combination of Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Ukraine.

Fifa was criticised for awarding the 2018 World Cup to Vladimir Putin’s Russia and then the 2022 tournament to Qatar but Amnesty said: “Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers remain without compensation for abuses they suffered in preparing and delivering last year’s tournament.”

Fifa introduced a human rights criteria for bidding in 2017, with the 2026 World Cup – which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada – the first affected.

However, the Club World Cup has been awarded in recent years to China, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Saudi Arabia “without a transparent process or consultation with civil society”, according to Amnesty.

Andrea Florence, Sport & Rights Alliance Director, said: “Since 2017, Fifa has made important progress in recognising its human rights responsibilities. But human rights assessments and considerations have not been applied systematically when awarding Fifa tournaments.

“To demonstrate they are serious about their own policies and statutes, it is critical that Fifa puts human rights front and centre when choosing the host for the 2030 men’s World Cup.”

In a new global opinion poll of almost 17,500 supporters in 15 countries, 53 percent of those surveyed – and 60 percent in the UK – believed human rights should be a pivotal factor in hosting decisions.

Ronan Evain, Football Supporters Europe Executive Director, said: “The results of the poll clearly show the importance fans place on human rights in determining the hosts of major sports events - far more than politics or profit.

“We, football supporters, want binding guarantees not only that their own rights will be respected, but also that workers will be assured of decent conditions, journalists will be able to report freely, and human rights activists can speak out without fear.”