Recommendations to FIFA on Incorporating Child Rights into United 2026 Human Rights Scorecard

United Nations Violence Against Children Office

In February 2020, I was pleased to be invited by the Centre for Sport and Human Rights’ Head of Child Rights, Dorothy Rozga to join a group of child rights experts and partners to develop child rights metrics on a Human Rights Scorecard for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. When we think of sports or mega-sporting events, we think of fun, entertainment, travel, and excitement. We do not often consider the human rights that might be violated while building stadiums, importing goods, or the poverty left after the games end. In response to growing concerns by the public, sporting events began taking steps to address human rights risks.

In order for a host city to be selected for a mega sporting event— or really any event, they have to bid for it. The institution hosting the event, (let’s use FIFA as the example) weighs many things when selecting a city— public transportation, weather, cost, economic need for tourism. I guess you could say it’s a bit of a special sauce because no one knows exactly what goes into it. This gives FIFA a lot of power. In theory, you could expect a city to build a stadium, open a train line, and… protect children? Yeah, actually… you can.

In 2017, FIFA began requiring bidding cities to disclose their human rights risks AND how they will address them. That’s helpful for three reasons:

1. Cities will have to look deep within themselves and admit they might have a problem. Then publicly share it. The reflection on its own can create action. The public reading these reports can also start to pressure a city to address the concerns immediately.

2. Stakeholders can also use the metrics to see how the event either improves or worsens human rights risks pre and post event.

3. Visitors, locals, and athletes will all know the risks posed in the host city. If FIFA still chooses to host the event in a city that scores poorly, wouldn’t that put FIFA at risk for litigation? I mean, I would think so but I am not a lawyer.

It all creates more pressure for FIFA to choose cities that are actively addressing human rights. It’s really exciting for FIFA to make these commitments. But even more important is— what will FIFA do with this disclosure? Will they weigh those risks in deciding which bids to select? We all hope so.

Human rights are broad. In order to ensure child protection is taken seriously, FIFA must commit to weighing risks to children when assessing each cities bids. In order to ensure FIFA knew which metrics to take into consideration, the Centre for Sport and Human Rights put together a strategy to make recommendations. That’s where I came in— I was 1 of 40 child rights experts across the globe to join forces with the Centre in their effort to ensure FIFA seizes this opportunity to protect youth. We met at the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children to discuss:

1. Child rights metrics to be recommended to FIFA to include in the Human Rights Scorecard

2. Exchange ideas on how host cities and other stakeholders could be assisted to enhance their knowledge about child protection and participation and deliver a child-friendly United 2026 World Cup

After discussions and communication online, we heard that the recommendations were delivered! On May 29th the below materials were presented to Joyce Cook, General Secretary of the FIFA Foundation by Mary Harvey, Chief Executive of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights.

It was a pleasure to work with the Centre for Sport and Human Rights and I look forward to seeing FIFA step up in their efforts to protect children across the globe. To reach out or connect with me for consulting opportunities, please contact me here.