A major new report from FairSquare, published today, identifies serious structural flaws within FIFA, football’s global governing body, that have resulted in the organisation contributing to a wide range of social harms, not least very serious and systematic human rights abuses, and that preclude it from fulfilling one of its core stated objectives of developing the game.

Substitute: The case for the external reform of FIFA, a 174-page report based on extensive research, addresses FIFA’s governance practices and assesses the impact of its operations both before and after a set of critical governance reforms implemented in 2016. It concludes that there has been little to no improvement since these reforms, and that in some key elements of FIFA’s operations there has been obvious regression. The report argues that FIFA is not capable of self-regulation and that in the absence of external reform it will continue to cause or exacerbate human rights abuses and other social harms...

FairSquare works to promote better, more democratic governance to prevent sporting institutions contributing to harm and suffering. Our work on accountability in sport is informed by years of research and advocacy on abuses connected to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, and the role of FIFA. This report, which will be the first in a series, is rooted in the belief that sport has the potential to play a transformative, positive role in society, and the concern that too often its power is misappropriated and exploited. Football and FIFA provide the clearest and most urgent illustration of this alarming trend....