FIFA has sparked a new international controversy by rejecting independent oversight of migrant workers’ labor conditions for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. This decision has raised deep concerns among trade unions and human rights organizations, which warn of potential risks to millions of foreign workers. The current context reveals an extremely delicate situation, where the world’s most prominent sports organization appears to be systematically ignoring warnings about possible human rights violations, repeating a dangerous pattern of negligence observed during preparations for the Qatar World Cup.
The African Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), representing 18 million workers, has called for specific interventions to protect migrant workers, including the abolition of the kafala labor system and the implementation of independent monitors. However, FIFA has responded that current measures are sufficient, disregarding warnings about potential labor abuses. This stance has caused widespread outrage among human rights organizations, which view the decision as clear evidence of silent complicity with a labor system that has historically undermined the basic rights of foreign workers in the Gulf region.
2034 WORLD CUP
The 2034 World Cup project entails massive infrastructure transformations, including the construction of 11 entirely new stadiums, the expansion of transportation networks, and the creation of 185,000 hotel rooms. It is estimated that approximately 10 million migrant workers will carry out these projects, potentially exposed to precarious labor conditions. The scale of the project suggests that thousands of workers, primarily from countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, will be involved in construction that could pose significant risks to their physical integrity and workplace dignity, without effective protection or oversight mechanisms.
Mattias Grafström, FIFA’s Secretary General, has stated that the World Cup “will shine a spotlight on Saudi Arabia” and could foster positive change. However, human rights organizations consider this stance an insufficient response that endangers the lives of thousands of migrant workers, repeating the same mistakes made during the preparations for the Qatar World Cup. The statistics are grim: in 2023 alone, hundreds of migrant workers lost their lives under labor conditions that border on modern slavery, while FIFA maintains a stance of complete indifference toward a potential humanitarian crisis of significant proportions.