Amnesty International lashed out at FIFA for awarding
Saudi Arabia the organisation of the 2034 men’s soccer World Cup, claiming the
move would put lives at risk amid criticism of the country’s human rights
record on Wednesday.
The 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and
Morocco with one-off matches in three South American countries, FIFA announced
after a vote by acclamation of the single bids.
Among those who co-signed the statement were Saudi
diaspora human rights organisations, migrant workers’ groups from Nepal and
Kenya, international trade unions, fans’ representatives and global human
rights organisations.
“FIFA’s reckless decision to award the 2034 World Cup
to Saudi Arabia without ensuring adequate human rights protections are in place
will put many lives at risk,” Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of
Labour Rights and Sport, said in a statement issued by 21 bodies.
“Based on clear evidence to date, FIFA knows workers
will be exploited and even die without fundamental reforms in Saudi Arabia, and
yet has chosen to press ahead regardless.
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“The organisation risks bearing a heavy responsibility
for many of the human rights abuses that will follow.”
Lina Alhathloul, Head of Monitoring and Advocacy,
ALQST for Human Rights, a Saudi diaspora human rights organisation, said the
awarding of the World Cup to Saudi Arabia was ‘disheartening’.
“Now it’s happened, urgent and sustained action is
needed to mitigate the grave risks of labour and civil rights violations
associated with the tournament, including by securing major and credible
reforms,” she said in the joint statement.
In a separate statement, the Business and Human Rights
Resource Centre said that one stadium already under construction for the
tournament had been linked to alleged exploitative labour of 10 hour shifts in
extreme heat.
“FIFA, its sponsors, and multinational companies
likely already eyeing up lucrative infrastructure contracts have a legal and
ethical responsibility to respect human rights. Particularly those of the most
vulnerable migrant workers…” Phil Bloomer, Executive Director of BHRRC said.
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Last week, Mogens Jensen, the General Rapporteur on
Governance and Ethics in Sport of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE), urged FIFA to adhere to its own ‘eligibility and evaluation
criteria’.
“The organisation is yet to impose binding demands on
Saudi Arabia for reforms in key areas such as labour rights, freedom of
expression, gender equality and anti-discrimination,” Jensen said.
Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses
and says it protects its national security through its laws.
In 2021, a 48-page report by Amnesty, Reality Check
2021, said that practices such as withholding salaries and charging workers to
change jobs were still rife in Qatar, which then hosted the 2022 men’s World
Cup.
Human Rights Watch then said that Qatari laws continue
to discriminate against women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) individuals.
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