A flawed human rights assessment of Saudi Arabia’s FIFA 2034 World Cup bid by AS&H Clifford Chance – part of the global partnership of London-based law firm Clifford Chance – leaves the global firm at risk of being linked to abuses which result from the tournament, 11 organisations said today.

AS&H Clifford Chance, which is based in Riyadh and sits within Clifford Chance’s integrated global partnership, produced an “independent human rights context assessment” that was published by FIFA and which has helped pave the way for Saudi Arabia to be confirmed as 2034 hosts on 11 December, as is widely expected to happen. The assessment contains no substantive discussion of extensive and relevant abuses in Saudi Arabia documented by multiple human rights organisations and UN bodies. It formed the basis of Saudi Arabia’s human rights strategy for the tournament, which was described by Amnesty International as a “whitewash”...

Saudi Arabia’s already dire human rights record has deteriorated under the de facto rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has presided over a soaring number of mass executions, torture, enforced disappearance, severe restrictions on free expression, repression of women’s rights under the male guardianship system, LGBTI+ discrimination, and the killing of hundreds of migrants at the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border. The country’s abusive Kafala (labour sponsorship) system, as well as the prohibition on trade unions and lack of enforcement of labour laws continues to lead to the widespread exploitation of migrant workers.

The 11 organisations warned Clifford Chance that, through the production of its human rights assessment by AS&H Clifford Chance, there is a risk that the firm could be linked to potential adverse human rights impacts resulting from a Saudi Arabia-hosted tournament...

Full list of signatories:

• FairSquare
• ALQST for Human Rights
• Amnesty International
• The Army of Survivors
• Building and Woodworkers International
• Equidem
• Football Supporters Europe
• Gulf Centre for Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch
• Middle East Democracy Center
• Migrant-Rights.org