News
Get the latest news and updates from our partners on the human rights issues in and around the world of sport.
SEARCH BY KEYWORD
SEARCH BY TAG
Olympics: IOC Heeds Calls to Embed Rights
Now Must Engage Stakeholders and Add Human Rights to Olympic Charter (Nyon, Switzerland, June 7, 2022) — The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) progress update released on May 20, 2022 is an important step towards adopting a desperately needed human rights strategic framework, the Sport & Rights Alliance said today. The move follows decades of calls […]
Qatar: Joint letter to Gianni Infantino regarding remedy for labour abuses
Joint letter urging Mr Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, to work with the Qatar government, trade unions, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other actors to establish a comprehensive programme to ensure all labour abuses to which FIFA contributed are remedied, and to set aside appropriate financial resources. View Report in English
FIFA: Time to Compensate Migrant Workers in Qatar
Qatar hit the headlines in December 2010 when football’s world governing body FIFA awarded it the right to host the 2022 men’s football World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East. It was clear that a global event of this magnitude would mean Qatar would need to deploy immense resources and rely […]
FIFA: Pay for Harm to Qatar’s Migrant Workers
Global Coalition Calls for Financial Remedy for Deaths, Wage Theft (London) – Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in Qatar have not received financial compensation or any other adequate remedy for serious labor abuses suffered while building and servicing infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup, which begins in November 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. On May […]
Qatar: Security guards subjected to forced labour
Security guards in Qatar are working in conditions which amount to forced labour, including on projects linked to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Amnesty International has found. In a new report, They think that we’re machines, the organization documented the experiences of 34 current or former employees of eight private security companies in Qatar. The security guards, all migrant […]
China: IOC Can’t Ensure Olympic Apparel Is Abuse-Free
Supplier Audits Lacked Transparency, Don’t Answer Key Questions (New York) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not conduct adequate human rights due diligence to address the risk that Olympic uniforms and other products for the Beijing Winter Games aren’t linked to grave rights violations in China’s Uyghur region, the Coalition to End Forced Labour in […]
Qatar: One Year to Make Good on Promises to Migrant Workers as Progress Stagnates
With just one year to go until the 2022 FIFA World Cup, time is running out for Qatar to deliver on its promise to abolish the kafala sponsorship system and better protect migrant workers, Amnesty International said today. In Reality Check 2021, a new analysis of Qatar’s progress towards overhauling its labour system, the organization found that progress has […]
The Economics of International Sport Governing Bodies
The World Player’s report, the Economics of International Sport Governing Bodies, analyses the most up-to-date financial information from major sports bodies and compares it to the earnings of athletes. In this 3rd edition, the report shows that athletes and players continue to be denied a fair share of the wealth they generate and are excluded from the […]
Qatar Dismantles Kafala System of Modern Slavery
Qatar’s programme of labour reforms today succeeded in dismantling the kafala system and heralding a modern industrial relations system. Exit visas for workers – including domestic workers, those in government and public institutions, and workers employed at sea, in agriculture as well as casual workers – have been eliminated. These workers have the same rights […]
ITUC, BWI and ITF Welcome End of Exit Permits for 1.5 Million Migrant Workers in Qatar
The ITUC, the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) have welcomed the announcement by Qatar on 4 September of new legislation which means migrant workers covered by the Labour Code will not have to seek their employer’s permission to leave the country. Law No. 13 of 2018 amends […]
FIFA – North America World Cup in 2026 a New Test for Human Rights
FIFA’s award of the 2026 World Cup to the “United” bid of Canada, Mexico and the USA will provide a further test of FIFA’s human rights commitments, with the inclusion of mandatory human rights requirements, including labour standards, in the bidding process. FIFA delegates meeting in Russia on 13 June chose the United bid ahead […]
Iran: FIFA Called on to Enforce Human Rights and non-Discrimination Policy
The International Trade Union Confederation, along with several union and civil society organisations, is calling on FIFA to ensure that its human rights policy is fully respected, and ensure that Iran ends its ban on women attending men’s football matches. The ITUC and the Building and Woodworkers’ International BWI, Human Rights Watch, the Centre for […]