FIFA should halt the process to select Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 men’s World Cup unless major human rights reforms are announced before a vote of FIFA members next month, Amnesty International and the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA) said today…

In a new report, High Stakes Bids: Dangerously Flawed Human Rights Strategies for the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups, Amnesty International and the SRA evaluate the human rights strategies proposed by Morocco, Portugal and Spain for the 2030 tournament and Saudi Arabia for the 2034 event…

“There will be a real and predictable human cost to awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without obtaining credible guarantees of reform. Fans will face discrimination, residents will be forcibly evicted, migrant workers will face exploitation, and many will die. FIFA must halt the process until proper human rights protections are in place to avoid worsening an already dire situation,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport…

“FIFA has long claimed that it includes human rights standards when selecting its World Cup hosts and when delivering its flagship tournaments…” said Andrea Florence, Director of the Sports and Rights Alliance…