Fifa President Gianni Infantino has been asked to confirm that any country being considered as a cohost of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar complies with the governing body’s new human-rights standards.
Before Friday’s Fifa Council meeting in Miami, Amnesty International and a coalition of nongovernment organizations, trade unions and fans’ and players’ groups have told the official about his “corporate responsibility.”
Fifa must ensure any country wishing to hold a World Cup first provides credible guarantees to meet international human-rights law and labor standards, Infantino has been told.
The governing body will discuss a proposal to expand the World Cup finals in Qatar from 32 to 48 teams in Miami.
Infantino supports the plan with suggestions that additional games could be staged in other Gulf countries such as Kuwait and Oman.
Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty International’s deputy director of global issues, said: “There are clear human-rights risks associated with adding new hosts for the 2022 World Cup, not least the potential widespread exploitation of migrant workers providing construction and other services for the World Cup that could cast a major shadow over the world’s biggest sporting event.
“Gianni Infantino has said he wants to make the World Cup more inclusive.
“This means Fifa must assess potential cohosts in Gulf countries to ensure that the World Cup is not contributing or linked to human-rights violations which are rife in the region.”
In November Infantino told journalists that neighboring countries might be considered as hosts for an expanded competition.
In February, the chairman of the United Arab Emirates General Sports Authority said that the UAE, Kuwait and Oman would be willing to cohost the finals if the current diplomatic crisis in the Gulf could be resolved.
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain were among countries to sever relations with Qatar over its alleged support for terrorism.
Infantino is also being asked to offer assurances that any other country becoming involved with hosting will develop credible action plans to prevent potential abuses related to the tournament in respect of discrimination and restrictions of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Qatar has launched a feasibility study into its capacity to host an expanded tournament.
If an expansion is agreed in principle, new hosts would be decided by the Fifa Congress—the organization’s supreme decision-making body made up of all 211 associations—which next meets in Paris in June before the Women’s World Cup. Insidethegames