Global: FIFA produces whitewash of Saudi Arabia World Cup bid and ignores own report to provide compensation for migrant workers in Qatar

Reacting to FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s bid for the 2034 men’s World Cup, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport, said:

“As expected, FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record. There are no meaningful commitments that will prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being evicted or activists from being arrested.”

“By ignoring the clear evidence of severe human rights risks, FIFA is likely to bear much responsibility for the violations and abuses that will take place over the coming decade. Fundamental human rights reforms are urgently required in Saudi Arabia, or the 2034 World Cup will be inevitably tarnished by exploitation, discrimination and repression.”

FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record

Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport

Reacting to FIFA’s publication of the long-delayed independent report on providing remedy for migrant workers who suffered abuses connected to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar:

“It is no mystery why FIFA has sought to keep this independent report hidden for so long – it clearly concludes that the organisation has a responsibility to ensure remedy including compensation to hundreds of thousands of workers who suffered abuses connected to the 2022 World Cup. It validates what human rights organisations, trade unions, fans, and now even FIFA’s own human rights sub-committee have been saying – it is time for FIFA to pay up.”

“It is incredible that in the same week that FIFA has finally published this report, it has not only launched a Legacy Fund with no remedy for workers but also waved through Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid regardless of the likely human cost. Unless FIFA finally takes action to compensate workers and Saudi Arabia introduces real human rights reforms, history will repeat itself and workers will again pay the price.”

Background

FIFA provided Saudi Arabia a ‘medium’ risk rating for human rights in its evaluation of its bid for the 2034 World Cup. This is despite evidence provided by Amnesty International and the Sports & Rights Alliance in recent reports that severe and likely human rights risks were not addressed in the bid’s human rights strategies, which did not meet FIFA’s own human rights bidding requirements. Amnesty and ten other organisations also highlighted in October how the independent human rights assessment produced by AS&H Clifford Chance was deeply flawed and omitted key human rights issues.

Many organisations including Amnesty International campaigned for FIFA to pay compensation to workers and families who suffered exploitation in the preparation of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In March 2023, FIFA agreed to commission an independent report to determine whether it had a responsibility to do so. Although finalised in December 2023, the report was only published at midnight on 29 November 2024. It concludes that FIFA does have a responsibility to ensure remedy for workers, alongside other actors – a position that is endorsed by FIFA’s Human Rights-Sub Committee. On Wednesday 27 November, however, FIFA launched it’s Legacy Fund for the 2022 World Cup, without any compensation for workers included.