Host Selection
Saudi Arabia Hasn’t Earned Women’s Tennis Championships
Women’s tennis has advocated for women’s rights since before Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the “battle of the sexes” 50 years ago. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was a prime mover behind Title IX, the U.S. law that gave millions of women and girls equal opportunities in sport and education. Despite this legacy, […]
Rights Groups Letter to F1 CEO Ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix: 20 Years of Sportswashing
Copy to: Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Teams, Drivers and Sponsors Dear Stefano Domenicali, We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to renew our concerns about Bahrain’s use of the F1 Grand Prix to “sportswash” the country’s dire human rights record. As you mark two decades of racing in Bahrain, and amid claims from F1 that […]
Statement by Dignity 2026 Coalition on the Announcement of the Match Schedule for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup
This weekend, FIFA released the much-anticipated match schedule for the 2026 Men’s World Cup, which will be held across 16 cities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. As planning accelerates in these host cities, event organizers will now be making critical decisions on tournament operations, including for Fan Fests, transportation, concessions, and hospitality. In […]
Saudi Government Uses European Football to Sportswash its Reputation
Italian, Spanish Super Cups Played in Riyadh to Divert Attention From Abuses Forget Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist brutally murdered in a Saudi consulate, and all his colleagues jailed, censored or harassed in Saudi Arabia; don’t think about women’s and LGBT rights in the kingdom; and ignore the mass killings of migrants along the Saudi border with Yemen. Look, there, Saudi […]
FIFA: Secure Human Rights Protections for 2030 and 2034 Men’s World Cups as Bidding Deadline Passes
Sport & Rights Alliance Highlights Risks of Non-Competitive Process (Nyon, Switzerland, 31 October, 2023) — FIFA needs to secure clear and binding commitments to improve human rights in countries likely to host the 2030 and 2034 men’s football World Cup tournaments to prevent serious potential abuses linked to its flagship event, the Sport & Rights […]
FIFA Broke Own Human Rights Rules for World Cup Hosts
Saudi Arabia Shouldn’t be Rewarded for Its Repression (New York) – Global soccer governing body FIFA has broken its own human rights rules in announcing a plan for hosting the next two men’s World Cups that effectively eliminates bidding and human rights due diligence, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 4, FIFA announced that the 2030 World Cup will take place in Morocco, Portugal, […]
