FIFA Will Not Require Independent Monitoring of Labor Conditions for World Cup in Saudi Arabia

We reported previously about criticisms of conditions for workers involved in construction projects for the World Cup held in Qatar in 2022. Human Rights Watch continued to report on the story in the aftermath of that event.  According to Human Rights Watch,

Migrant workers who have remained in Qatar have not received compensation for past abuses and face escalating wage theft and new forms of exploitation. This highlights the inadequacies of Qatar’s labor reforms and the shameful human rights legacy of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, selected Saudi Arabia to host the World Cup in 2034. According to Paul MacInnes writing in The Guardian, The African Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), which represents 18 million African workers, asked FIFA to establish independent monitoring of work conditions for the migrant workers hired for construction projects in connection with the planned World Cup. Saudi Arabia, like Qatar, does not have a sterling reputation when it comes to the treatment of foreign workers.

Mr. MacInnis reported in The Guardian last year on the bizarre proceedings through which Saudi Arabia was elected as host. In an expedited process, Saudi Arabia was the lone bidder, and it was chosen as host without a vote but by acclamation through video conference. FIFAs 211 members assembled on video screens and clapped. Perhaps that’s a portent of what lies ahead for 21st-century democracy. Labor groups and human rights organizations protested at the time that the treatment of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia would need to be monitored.

But FIFA responded to ITUC Africa’s request with assurances that Saudi Arabia had proposed in its bid “a workers’ welfare system to monitor compliance with labour rights standards for tournament-related workers.” So there ya go.