FIFA Faces Mounting Pressure to Disclose Its Internal Human Rights Review on 2022 World Cup and Remedy Labour Abuses

24 May

As we have previously written, the period after 2022 FIFA World Cup should serve as an extra time for Qatar to redress workers’ complaints and improve overall domestic labour law. At the same time, it is also important to highlight the responsibility of the event’s namesake; International Federation of Association Football or FIFA. While FIFA itself is registered as a non-profit association under Swiss law, the association raked in at least 7.5 billion USD in revenue from the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[1] dwarfing the host state’s revenue by a factor of about 4.8.[2]

Along with the gigantic revenue it made from the event, FIFA has been facing an equally gigantic pressure from international civil society organisations[3] and even its own members, including the football associations of Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland[4] to disclose its internal human rights review on the event and provide remedy to affected workers.

FIFA Internal Human Rights Policy

It would be useful to first look at what the organisation commits itself to when it comes to human rights responsibility. Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes and Article 10 of the FIFA Governance Regulations affirm the association’s commitment to comply with human rights.[5] Additionally, FIFA has also created a complementary internal human rights policy. According to Article 3 of its Human Rights Policy, which serves to elaborate Article 3 of its Statutes, in line with the UNGPs, FIFA commits itself to take measures based on in-depth due-diligence process to avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through its business activities and to address and remediate such impacts when they occur.[6]

FIFA’s Penalty Kick Moment: To the Net or to the Curb?

While the World Cup referee blew the final whistle one year and five months ago, the remediation issue for migrant workers working at the event sites remains largely unresolved,[7] even as FIFA touts that the event has brought labour rights reform to Qatar.[8]

Last week, FIFA held its annual congress and council meetings in Bangkok, Thailand with its global members attending. While the congress itself managed to pass several key resolutions, including a set of pledges and an elaborate plan to kick racism out of the pitch,[9] the event failed to even mention remedy for 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup workers, notwithstanding frequent calls from its own members, international human rights organisation,[10] and even individual footballers to address the issue.[11]

Even without external pressure, FIFA should not fail to meet the standards it has committed itself to; FIFA should promptly address the human rights issues from the previous World Cup by paraphrasing its own written commitments, addressing and remediating adverse human rights impacts and meeting UNGP standards it claims it adheres to.[12]

The ball is now in FIFA’s court. Will FIFA score by remedying labour issues from the past 2022 FIFA World Cup or miss the goal by dismissing calls from affected workers and their families, civil society organisations, and its own member associations to remedy labour abuses?

Sources:

[1] https://publications.fifa.com/en/annual-report-2021/2021-financials-and-2023-budget/2021-financial-statements/significant-accounting-policies/

[2] https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2023/01/10/the-finances-behind-the-2022-world-cup/

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3836101/2022/11/17/how-ngos-responded-to-world-cup/

[4] https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/12740200/england-wales-and-other-fas-ignore-fifa-s-plea-to-focus-on-football-at-qatar-world-cup

[5] https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/1a876c66a3f0498d/original/kr05dqyhwr1uhqy2lh6r-pdf.pdf

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/global-fifa-must-publish-its-review-into-compensation-for-workers-harmed-delivering-the-world-cup-in-qatar/

[8] https://publications.fifa.com/en/final-sustainability-report/human-pillar/workers-recruitment-and-working-conditions/legacy-contribution-to-labour-rights-in-qatar/

[9] https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/congress/news/fifa-congress-takes-historic-decisions-on-racism-and-fifa-womens-world-cup-2027

[10] https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3616095/2022/09/22/human-rights-watch-fa-qatar-world-cup/

[11] https://khelnow.com/football/top-five-footballers-spoken-against-fifa-world-cup-qatar