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Candidate City Human Rights Proposals for the 2026 World Cup: The Promise of a Positive Legacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2022

David Alfrey*
Affiliation:
Associate and member of the Global ESG Board, Clifford Chance LLP, United Kingdom
Lucy Amis
Affiliation:
Senior Advisor, Mega-Sporting Events, Centre for Sport and Human Rights, Switzerland
Steve Nickelsburg
Affiliation:
Partner and member of the Global ESG Board, Clifford Chance LLP, United States
William Rook
Affiliation:
Deputy Chief Executive, Centre for Sport and Human Rights, Switzerland
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Extract

Since 2017, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has incorporated human rights risk assessments into its bidding requirements for major events, beginning with the competition to host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.1 This process began at a time of increased scrutiny on the impact of major events and greater focus on the applicability of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) to sport. In 2014, the Centre for Sport and Human Rights’ founding Chair Mary Robinson, together with John Ruggie (author of the UNGPs), wrote to FIFA in their respective capacities as Patron and Chair of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) to stress the need for ‘sustained due diligence […] with respect to decisions about host nations and how major sporting events are planned and implemented’.2 Following recommendations set forth in the letter, expanded upon in Ruggie’s 2016 report ‘For the Game, For the World’, FIFA introduced robust bidding requirements that any country or region wishing to bid to host a World Cup will have to conduct a human rights risk assessment and outline how they intend to mitigate each of the risks identified.3 These requirements are designed to align the World Cup bidding process with the UNGPs.

Type
Developments in the Field
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 FIFA, ‘Guide to the Bidding Process for the FIFA 2026 World Cup’ (2017), https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/5730ee56c15eeddb/original/hgopypqftviladnm7q90-pdf.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).

2 Institute for Human Rights and Business, ‘Robinson and Ruggie Open Letter to FIFA on Human Rights’, (2014), https://www.ihrb.org/uploads/statements/2014-06-11-Open-Letter-FIFA.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).

3 John G Ruggie, ‘For the Game. For the World. FIFA and Human Rights’, Corporate Responsibility Initiative Report No. 68 (2016), Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School, https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Ruggie_humanrightsFIFA_reportApril2016.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).

4 ‘Proposal for a United Human Rights Strategy – United 2026’ (2018), https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/35837f1073bdad15/original/s2xnrvfjg9kp0zelhxnt-pdf.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).

5 Centre for Sport and Human Rights and Clifford Chance, ‘The Promise of a Postive Legacy, The 2026 FIFA World Cup Host City Candidates’ Human Rights Plans’ (2022), https://www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/cliffordchance/briefings/2022/03/the-promise-of-a-positive-legacy.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).

6 Centre for Sport and Human Rights, ‘Convergence 2025 – Strategic Plan (2021–2025)’ (2021), https://www.sporthumanrights.org/media/os5fx2z0/cshr_convergence_2025.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).

7 ‘Proposal for a United Human Rights Strategy – United 2026’ (2018), https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/35837f1073bdad15/original/s2xnrvfjg9kp0zelhxnt-pdf.pdf (accessed 8 June 2022).