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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 […]
Germany: At the Tipping Point for Human Rights & Sport
German Bundestag’s Public Hearing Represents Opportunity to Walk the Talk (Nyon, Switzerland, 11 May, 2022) — As the German Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid holds its first-ever public hearing on human rights and sport, civil society organizations and athlete representative groups such as the Sport & Rights Alliance, World Players Association, Transparency […]
No ‘Dignity and Pride’ in World Cup Labor Abuses
FIFA Should Uphold Rights Responsibilities to Migrant Workers At a May 2 conference entitled “Managing the Beautiful Game,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino shockingly downplayed deaths and hardships of migrant workers in Qatar who have literally built the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In doing so, he reminded the world that preventable deaths and abuses of migrant workers in […]
As World Cup nears, Qatar and FIFA face fresh scrutiny on press freedom commitments
Exactly one year before the scheduled start of the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar, plainclothes officers from the Gulf state’s Criminal Investigations Department arrested Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani, a sports reporter and cameraman respectively for Norwegian state broadcaster NRK, as they were leaving their hotel in the capital of Doha. The NRK journalists […]
Statement from TAOS Founder Grace French on FBI Claim
On Thursday, April 21, it was announced 13 survivors are suing the FBI for its failure to properly investigate abuse allegations against Larry Nassar. Survivor and TAOS Founder Grace French spoke at a press conference; her statement is below: My name is Grace French and I am founder and president of the Army of Survivors. […]
European Commission published high-level group’s recommendations to achieve gender equality in sport
The high-level group on gender equality in sport, has put forward an action plan and recommendations to achieve a more equitable gender balance in sport. These have been addressed to the European Commission, EU Member States, national and international sports bodies as well as grassroots organisations. The high-level group was established by Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner […]
10 Questions Journalists Should Ask FIFA and Qatari Authorities About Rights Abuses
When FIFA convenes its 72nd Congress in Doha, Qatar, on March 31, 2022, in preparation for the World Cup, journalists, football associations, fans, and others should press both FIFA officials and Qatari authorities about human rights in the Gulf state, particularly the rights of migrant workers, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Since 2010, […]
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 […]
Iranian Society Pushes for End to Stadium Ban
Women Have a Right to Attend Sporting Events Iranian authorities once again prevented women and girls from entering a sports stadium. Iran’s football team played Lebanon in a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying match in the city of Mashhad last week. But authorities prevented dozens of women who had reportedly purchased tickets for from entering the stadium. Additionally, […]
FSE & CSHR Launch Fans’ Human Rights Guide
Like all people associated with sport, the human rights of fans should be upheld, and governments and institutions across the sports ecosystem, such as event organising committees, have responsibilities to protect and respect them. Promoting human rights is a job for everyone, and fans themselves also have responsibilities. Fans have a strong platform to contribute […]
Iran: Women Blocked From Entering Stadium
Possible Use of Excessive Force; FIFA Should Enforce Call to End Discriminatory Ban (Beirut) – Iranian authorities prevented dozens of Iranian women from entering Imam Reza football stadium in the city of Mashhad on March 29, 2022, possibly using excessive force, Human Rights Watch said today. FIFA should use its leverage with Iranian authorities to demand that […]
English Premier League: Urgently Adopt Human Rights Policy
Reconsider Newcastle United Sale to Saudi Consortium; Scrutinize Chelsea Sale Bidders (London) – The English Premier League should immediately adopt and implement human rights policies that would prohibit governments implicated in grave human rights abuses from securing stakes in Premier League clubs to whitewash their reputations, Human Rights Watch said today. The ban should be extended to […]