FIFA moves ahead with new human rights strategy for World Cup games, but advocates are skeptical
With the games less than a year away, though, FIFA's commitment to upholding human rights is still under scrutiny. Human rights advocates who wanted more enforceable standards and clearer directions for local officials say FIFA watered down a more robust model for the plans.
'Even though where we landed is very different than what we had consulted them on, the existence of the framework is in many ways unprecedented. Sports bodies have not had human rights frameworks that reflected the breadth of issues covered across so many jurisdictions. But the plan is just a plan. It's not self-executing,' said Jennifer Li, director of the O'Neill Institute's Center for Community Health Innovation at Georgetown Law and national coordinator of the Dignity 2026 Coalition, which is working with FIFA on human rights.
Adding to advocates' unease, several U.S. host committees said they couldn't meet a March deadline for an early draft of their plans. A FIFA spokesperson said the governing body has been working closely with host cities and counties, which they say are on track to develop final action plans by the Aug. 29 deadline. Sixteen North American sites will host games, including 11 in the U.S.
Human rights concerns in North America look different from those in other countries where FIFA has come under fire, which had few protections for workers and massive stadium and transportation construction projects. Migrant workers labored in Qatar's scorching heat for more than a decade before the 2022 World Cup there, and human rights advocates worry migrant workers' lives are again at risk in Saudi Arabia, which will host the games in 2034.
FIFA's suggestions for the 2026 plans include guidelines on nondiscrimination, security, preventing trafficking, protecting unhoused people and workers' rights, including for migrant workers.
'The host communities are quite invested in their legacy, so they've stepped up,' said labor rights expert Deborah Greenfield, who is in an expert advisory group supporting FIFA's human rights work for 2026.
Local tensions rise
U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement across the country, stirring fears that federal law enforcement officers will arrest workers and even travelers during the games. Trump imposed a travel ban on 12 countries in June, and seven face restrictions.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has close ties to Trump. A FIFA spokesperson said it is working with a White House task force to 'bring millions of people from different nations and communities' together in the U.S.
Protesters in Miami-Dade County gathered outside FIFA's offices in June to demand that the governing body protect travelers and workers and speak out against Trump's immigration moves. That came after a Club World Cup event hosted in the area by Spanish-language TV network Telemundo was canceled after an unexpected Coast Guard inspection involving at least one Border Patrol agent, local outlets reported.
'There's no guarantee that you might not have ICE posted up at the World Cup,' South Florida AFL-CIO President Jeff Mitchell said.
Local organizers don't seem to have their human rights plan ready and haven't agreed to meet with the union, Mitchell said. He noted that the region has a history of wage theft in a state with weak heat protection laws for workers.
'Organizations like FIFA like to say that they have these human rights efforts, but they aren't pushing it,' Mitchell said. 'They're leaving it up to the locals to do it. What tends to happen is everybody gets their bag and then they turn a blind eye to making sure people are getting paid properly or not being harassed.'
Miami-Dade officials referred The Associated Press to the local host committee, which did not respond to requests for comment.
More than 9,000 unhoused people were arrested when Atlanta prepared to host the Olympics in 1996, and a plan to eliminate homelessness downtown before the World Cup worries advocates that unhoused people will be jailed again.
Atlanta officials and partners say the Downtown Rising plan is a part of the mayor's larger investments in reducing homelessness and building affordable housing. The goal is to house people, not put them in jail, officials say.
In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom called on cities to ban encampments in May and offered money for mental health and substance use treatment. Cities with impending sporting events have ramped up enforcement, including San Jose, where unhoused people who reject three offers of shelter will now be eligible for arrest on trespassing charges. The mayor said the policy would encourage people to move inside.
'This panic rush to disappear visible signs of poverty is very concerning,' said Dr. Mark Spencer, an Atlanta hospital physician involved in local advocacy. 'Politicians and the business community know that visible signs of poverty are unpopular, and that's the driving force behind what is happening. It's not about human rights in any meaningful way.'
Working to address standards
FIFA's human rights policy published in 2017 mandates bidders for the men's 2026 World Cup to respect 'international human rights and labor standards according to the United Nations' guiding principles.'
A group of international lawyers filed a formal complaint to FIFA in May claiming the soccer body is failing to uphold its human rights policy with 2034 World Cup host Saudi Arabia.
In North America, Greenfield said FIFA is taking the goal of having a tournament 'that respects and promotes human rights' seriously and she wouldn't be participating in the effort if she didn't think that was possible.
Candace Stanciel, Atlanta's chief equity officer, said the city was committed to human rights work before FIFA came in and launched efforts to combat human trafficking in airports, hotels and public transport. Officials are working on potential language tools, accessibility measures for people with disabilities and an app to report issues including human rights abuses.
One of Seattle's largest labor organizations and the city's organizing committee signed a labor standards agreement last year. The International Labour Organization called FIFA's human rights framework 'an important step forward in harnessing the power of sport to advance decent work globally,' adding that it aligns with international labor standards.
___
Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
3 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Rowers revel in beach sprints in the run-up to LA's 2028 Olympics
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — It's a beach run, a coastal row and a music party rolled into one, and it's about to become an Olympic event. On a sunny Southern California morning, nearly two dozen athletes gathered to try their hand at beach sprints at a camp run by USRowing in Long Beach, not far from where the inaugural Olympic races will be held in 2028.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Maine clinics hope to get blocked Medicaid funds restored as they sue Trump administration over cuts
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A network of clinics that provides health care in Maine is expected to ask a judge Thursday to restore its Medicaid funding while it fights a Trump administration effort to keep federal money from going to abortion providers. President Donald Trump's policy and tax bill, known as the ' big beautiful bill,' blocked Medicaid money from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. The parameters in the bill also stopped funding from reaching Maine Family Planning, a much smaller provider that provides health care services in one of the poorest and most rural states in the Northeast. Maine Family Planning filed a federal lawsuit last month seeking to restore reimbursements. Lawyers and representatives for Maine Family Planning say its 18 clinics provide vital services across the state including cervical cancer screenings, contraception and primary care to low-income residents. They also say the funding cut occurred even though Medicaid dollars are not used for its abortion services. 'Without Medicaid, MFP will be forced to stop providing all primary care for all patients — regardless of their insurance status — by the end of October,' the organization said in a statement, adding that about 8,000 patients receive family planning and primary care from the network. It also said many Maine Family Planning clinics 'provide care in very rural areas of the state where there are no other health care providers, and around 70% of their patients rely exclusively on MFP and will not see any other health care provider in a given year.' Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. In court documents, Anne Marie Costello, deputy director for the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services, called the request to restore funding 'legally groundless' and said it 'must be firmly rejected.' 'The core of its claim asks this Court to revive an invented constitutional right to abortion — jurisprudence that the Supreme Court decisively interred — and to do so in a dispute over federal funds,' Costello said. While advocates of cutting Medicaid for abortion providers focused on Planned Parenthood, the bill did not mention it by name. Instead it cut off reimbursements for organizations that are primarily engaged in family planning services — which generally include things such as contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023. The U.S. Senate's parliamentarian rejected a 2017 effort to defund Planned Parenthood because it was written to exclude all other providers by barring payments only to groups that received more than $350 million a year in Medicaid funds. Maine Family Planning asserts in its legal challenge that the threshold was lowered to $800,000 this time around to make sure Planned Parenthood would not be the only entity affected. It is the only other organization that has come forward publicly to say its funding is at risk.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rowers revel in beach sprints in the run-up to LA's 2028 Olympics
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — It's a beach run, a coastal row and a music party rolled into one, and it's about to become an Olympic event. On a sunny Southern California morning, nearly two dozen athletes gathered to try their hand at beach sprints at a camp run by USRowing in Long Beach, not far from where the inaugural Olympic races will be held in 2028. Many were long-time flatwater rowers who wanted to take a shot at something new. Others were already hooked on the quick-paced and unpredictable race format and have been training with an eye on LA28. Two at a time, athletes run to the waterline, hop in a boat, row a slalom course, then turn around and return to shore to jump out and dash across the sand to hit a finish-line buzzer — all in about three minutes. 'You don't just have to be a good rower — you also have to be a good athlete, and what that means is you've got to be able to be dynamic and adapt to whatever Mother Nature throws at you,' said Maurice Scott, a long-time rower from Philadelphia who moved to Long Beach to prepare for the Olympics. The next summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles and nearby cities. Interest in beach sprints has risen since the International Olympic Committee announced its inclusion, especially since the games will no longer feature a lightweight rowing category popular among smaller athletes. Rowing officials developed the beach sprint format a little over a decade ago hoping to engage spectators in a sport that's otherwise removed from people watching from the shore. A standard 2,000 meter-flatwater race is typically only visible closer to the finish line. In beach sprints, athletes compete close to the crowds in a dynamic and much shorter race that fans can easily track from the sand. Guin Batten, chair of World Rowing's coastal commission, said the vision is to have a fun, lively event on the beach where spectators can listen to good music, be close to the action and follow their favorite athletes. The entire event runs just an hour. 'It's knockout. It's chaotic,' said Batten, an Olympic rower who helped develop the format. 'Until you cross a finish line, anyone can win that race.' Many traditional flatwater rowers accustomed to steady strokes on calm waterways have no interest in the ups and downs of wind and waves. But other long-time rowers are hooked. Christine Cavallo, a beach sprinter on the U.S. national team, said she loves the unpredictability of the waves, which can humble even the most incredible athletes. 'You could be the best rower in the world and get flipped by the wave,' Cavallo said. Coastal rowing has long been popular throughout the world but different cultures have used different boats and rules. Part of the appeal of beach sprints is the boat has been standardized and is provided at competitions, which makes it easier for more athletes to try it. The first major international beach sprints competition was at the 2015 Mediterranean Beach Games in Italy. Head of the Charles, known for its yearly October flatwater regatta in Massachusetts, hosted its first beach sprints event in July. About 100 rowers, twice as many as expected, participated, said Brendan Mulvey, race director. Since the Olympic announcement, Tom Pattichis, British Rowing's head coach for beach sprints, said he now has athletes training full-time in the event. Meanwhile, Marc Oria, the USA Beach Sprint head coach, said camps in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Long Beach aim to bring the race to long-time rowers and others who haven't tried it. Athletes find it exhilarating because it requires them to be agile and adaptive as well as superb rowers, he said. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'It's growing exponentially in the last four years all around the world,' Oria said. 'Our goal for U.S. rowing is to create more events, more opportunities, and to create a good pipeline for 2028.' At the camp in Long Beach, competitors included a teacher, an Olympic rower, a marketing professional who began rowing a few weeks earlier and a high school senior. 'I tried it and I really loved it, so I came back,' said Bridgette Hanson, a 17-year-old rower from Arizona who raced in beach sprints for the first time this year in Florida. 'It requires a lot more brute force.' John Wojtkiewicz, coach of the Long Beach Coastal Team, called out to racers to help guide them through the course. He said he's eager to see how the Olympic venue is set up and hopes spectators can get a good view like they do at surfing events. 'What is great about the beach sprint — and this may have helped its development — is you can watch the entire race,' Wojtkiewicz said. 'Anything can happen.'
