FIFA is implementing a new protocol requiring host committees to create action plans for human rights during the 2026 games in North America. FIFA’s commitment to human rights has been scrutinized in recent years following a string of scandals and alleged abuses.
Among concerns within the United States, human rights advocates worry about the treatment of unhoused people, citing how over 9,000 homeless persons were displaced or arrested in Atlanta prior to their hosting the 1996 Olympics.
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Internationally, concerns have sometimes focused more on human trafficking and the rights of workers or local residents. Those concerns have applied both to the Olympics and the FIFA games.
FIFA’s new human rights policy will require bidders for the World Cup to uphold “international human rights and labor standards,” according to the United Nations’ guiding principles.
Experts have praised the new protocol as a kind of milestone of forward progress in international sporting events, but they caution that the plan is “not self-executing” and will require commitments from host countries to honor the terms of the agreement. Others expressed sharper criticism, saying that the protocol had been too watered down from its original — and more ambitious — form.
