A group of international lawyers filed a formal complaint to FIFA on Thursday claiming the soccer body is failing to uphold its human rights policy with 2034 World Cup host Saudi Arabia.
The filing using FIFA’s own online portal for grievance reporting was made by FIFA’s former anti-corruption adviser Mark Pieth, Swiss lawyer Stefan Wehrenberg and British barrister Rodney Dixon.
Their offers to advise FIFA on human rights compliance were ignored before Saudi Arabia was confirmed last December as the 2034 host by acclamation without a rival bidder, reports AP.
“As highlighted in this complaint, widespread human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated in Saudi Arabia, and no steps are being taken by FIFA to address these in the buildup to the World Cup,” the lawyers state in a 30-page document.
“Instead, it appears it is business as usual with no changes to be made,” the complaint said hours before FIFA opens its first annual congress of 211 member federations since the Saudi hosting win in an online meeting.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was due for an unprecedented last-minute arrival at the congress in Paraguay after joining US President Donald Trump on a state visit to Saudi Arabia. The oil-rich kingdom has repeatedly said it is increasing freedoms as part of the Vision 2030 program to modernize its society and economy.
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Infantino has tied FIFA’s finances and politics closer to Saudi’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, since before the 2018 World Cup.
Infantino and Trump then had meetings on Wednesday in neighbouring Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host which faced a decade of intense scrutiny for its human rights record and treatment of migrant workers needed to build stadiums and infrastructure for the tournament.
Saudi Arabia has begun a similarly massive construction program for the 2034 tournament which has more teams, more games and needs more stadiums which include designs more extravagant than the eight used in Qatar.
“Saudi Arabia has been chosen as the next host country despite its appalling human rights record, including violations relating to freedom of expression, arbitrary arrest, detention and mistreatment, migrants’ rights and women’s rights,” the lawyers’ complaint said.
FIFA’s human rights policy was published in 2017 mandating bidders for the men’s 2026 World Cup — being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico — to“respecting international human rights and labor standards according to the United Nations’ guiding principles.”
In a recent letter to Human Rights Watch, which this week detailed alleged abuses of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, FIFA stated its “steadfast commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights in the context of its operations.”
The lawyers’ complaint urges FIFA to see “there remains an opportunity for meaningful reforms in Saudi Arabia, driven by the implementation of FIFA’s obligations under its policy.”