Media Release

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FIFA Strasse 20, P.O Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland, +41 (0) 43 222 7777

Monday 26 November 2018, 10:33

Second report of FIFA’s Human Rights Advisory Board published

Today, FIFA published the second report of its Human Rights Advisory Board, a group of eight independent experts from the United Nations, trade unions, civil society and FIFA sponsors who provide advice and recommendations to FIFA on how to strengthen the implementation of its human rights commitments as set out in article 3 of the FIFA Statutes and FIFA’s Human Rights Policy. This is the board’s second formal report and covers the period from October 2017 to September 2018.

The report consists of two parts, with part A being written by the board and part B by FIFA. Building on the board’s deliberations and recommendations in the first report, part A details recommendations made to FIFA in a range of areas since October 2017. Part B includes explanations by FIFA on how it has integrated the board’s recommendations into its wider human rights work.

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said: “This second report shows the significant work we have undertaken in the past two years to deliver on our human rights commitments and we are proud to be leading the way in the world of sport in that respect. The publication of this report is also unique in that it offers a transparent account from external and internal experts on both good practices and challenges that an international sports federation such as FIFA may face in its day-to-day work to address human rights risks around the world.”

Commenting on their report, the board stated: "We acknowledge the consistent progress that FIFA is making across a range of issues, including the handling of specific cases involving human rights defenders, deepening relationships with critical stakeholders, and integrating human rights risk assessment into the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process and beyond.

"We have agreed to close out 33 of the 44 recommendations to FIFA that the Advisory Board has made to date. At the same time, we continue to monitor and engage with FIFA on our open recommendations. In particular, we encourage FIFA to address our outstanding recommendation regarding the final legacy of the 2018 FIFA World Cup for the construction workers who were connected to the tournament through further transparency on the outcomes of its efforts to address risks to workers.

"We encourage stakeholders to read FIFA’s detailed explanation in Part B of the actions the organisation has taken in response to our recommendations. A complete list of the Board’s recommendations and their implementation status is included in Annexe 1 of the report.

"In addition to our recommendations from May regarding the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, this report includes 16 new recommendations to FIFA on key topics like players’ human rights and discrimination against women in IR Iran. It also briefly addresses the preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, specifically the need to further strengthen management of the risks to construction workers from the physical environment.

"In October, we held our fourth in-person Board meeting in Doha. We explored in depth a range of human rights issues connected to the tournament, looking at the important work that has been done in various human rights-related areas as well as the challenges that remain. We published a short statement on our meeting here. Our next public report will contain a full set of recommendations to FIFA in regards to ongoing work in Qatar.

"Overall, our relationship with FIFA has strengthened as we see the organisation increasingly integrating the Board’s external perspectives into FIFA’s day-to-day work on human rights to both support what it is already doing and to push it to go further.

"We look forward to working with FIFA to maximise the impact of our recommendations in terms of better outcomes for people connected to the world of football – the workers, players, fans, local communities and others whose rights need to be respected."

For further information, please refer to the following documents:

  • FIFA’s Human Rights Policy

  • FIFA Activity Update on Human Rights

  • First report of the FIFA Human Rights Advisory Board (September 2017)

  • Update Statement from the FIFA Human Rights Advisory Board (May 2018)

  • Terms of Reference of the FIFA Human Rights Advisory Board

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