Lauren Beeching’s Post

For me human rights are part of the ESG agenda

Rights are important

Last week I presented to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe five ways that FIFA has fixed the bidding processes for the 2030 and 2034 men's World Cups in order to bypass *its own* human rights requirements. It's nerdy, but important - here are some of the ways in which FIFA did it, and which other sports bodies must not learn from... 1. Non-competitive bids: This is first World Cup process for a very long time when no alternatives are being put to members. Given we have known the outcome since the beginning, there has been no incentive for bidding nations to take the human rights requirements seriously - and little effort from FIFA to make them. 2. No red lines: While FIFA's requirements include reference to a range of human rights standards and principles, it is not at all clear what Saudi Arabia would have to do in order to *not* be selected. 3. No consultation or participation: No human rights group, fans group, trade union or other rightsholder was consulted in the evaluation of either World Cup bid. And we certainly tried... 4. Deliberately limiting the scope of assessments: When commissioning a human rights assessment in Saudi Arabia, FIFA agreed to omit some of the most severe human rights issue from the exercise. On the grounds that Saudi Arabia had not ratified the relevant human rights treaties... 5.Removal of an independent evaluation: For the 2026 World Cup process, bids were evaluated by an independent company. This time, that step was removed and FIFA marked its own homework - with predictable results. The fruit of this year-long exercise in bureaucratic gymnastics will come tomorrow when the FIFA congress will confirm Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 tournament, without negotiating all the protections needed to prevent the exploitation, discrimination and repression that is now likely to follow. Ultimately, FIFA wanted the World Cup to take place in Saudi Arabia and the red carpet was rolled out. Saudi Aramco - the state oil company - becoming the organisation's biggest sponsor no doubt helped. After tomorrow, the challenge becomes using the World Cup spotlight to limit the damage and search for some progress. Our instant reaction to FIFA's evaluation of the Saudi bid here. More to come tomorrow. https://lnkd.in/eTsexqhV Sport & Rights Alliance #FIFA #WorldCup #ResponsibleSport #HumanRights #SaudiArabia

Fifa confirms Saudi Arabia as host of 2034 World Cup Kingdom’s unopposed bid for sporting event ratified by football’s governing body on Wednesday “If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by way of 1 per cent, I will continue doing sportswashing,” Prince Mohammed told Fox News last year. The 2030 tournament was awarded to a joint proposal from Spain, Portugal and Morocco at the same time. Instead of a formal vote, the 211 members of the Fifa Congress were invited to endorse both bids by acclamation. Gianni Infantino, Fifa president, encouraged officials to clap their hands “near their heads” in order to be visible on screen while dialled in to the virtual meeting. On the issue of human rights, Fifa’s report said “there is good potential for the tournament to serve as a catalyst for some of the ongoing and future reforms, and contribute to positive human rights outcomes for people in Saudi Arabia and the region that go beyond the scope of the tournament itself”. Amnesty International called the Fifa evaluation an “astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record”, adding that without urgent reforms “the 2034 World Cup will be inevitably tarnished by exploitation, discrimination and repression”. Saudi Arabia emerged as the sole bidder for the 2034 tournament late last year after Fifa unexpectedly announced that the 2030 World Cup would go to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, but with three games to be staged in South America. The move to host the 2030 competition across three continents in effect barred most countries from bidding for 2034 due to Fifa rules that require rotation between regions. Fifa then abruptly curtailed the deadline for aspiring hosts to submit bids. https://lnkd.in/eRhp2ZjC

More than 100 professional women's footballers have signed an open letter urging FIFA to drop the Saudi oil giant Aramco as a sponsor, calling it a "punch in the stomach" to the sport. Article here: https://lnkd.in/e-_SAAy3. I don't really care about the Saudi political elite. Go after them all you want. They are no friends of ours, and they certainly don't represent Islam. But at least try to be consistent. Nobody has the courage to ask FIFA to ban Israel from international competitions, not on environmental grounds, but because it literally kills Palestinian footballers, children and women; because it bombs hospitals and schools, destroys civilian infrastructure including football pitches, and burns medical patients alive; because it occupies another country's land and enforces an apartheid regime; because it detains children without trial or charge, and its soldiers steal women's clothes from their homes, and rape prisoners, then film it; because it is accused by the highest court in the world of a plausible genocide; because its leaders have expressed an intent to, and have actively sought to carry out collective punishment and starvation - war crimes under international law. And that's not even everything. We know how the world works - some countries are given a carte blanche to do as they wish, without any consequences. "We'll have a quiet word with them to remind them not to kill babies, rape, and pillage. But you over there, how dare you sign a lucrative sponsor deal with a country hoping to host a women's World Cup" We won't stop calling out the inconsistencies and lack of accountability. And our voices are getting louder and louder, until you won't be able to shut them out any longer. Long Live Palestine, Long Live Gaza

When I was 15, I was lucky to have the chance to realize my dream of becoming a pro soccer player and sign with a French 1st Division Academy. But it took another 15 years-after a law degree with extensive studies in EU, antitrust, and sports law-to learn why the offer was (correctly) rescinded: FIFA's prohibition on the international transfer of minors had come into effect in 2001, just 2 months earlier. Now 25 year later, it's coming full circle, highlighting the ways the prohibition has evolved and the challenges it still presents. When my neighbors moved back to Denmark last summer to be near family, their 10-year old left Sunnyvale Alliance Soccer Club and tried to register with a local team. Months later he still cannot play until a team of lawyers from FIFA and the US and Danish soccer governing bodies approve the transfer. And they are just the latest family to ask for help understanding how this all works. At a personal level, it's hard to reconcile how a system laudably set up to prevent the exploitation of young, largely African and South American players by European agents and clubs has the effect of stifling the dreams of middle class kids. That even with our privileged upbringing, we are not wealthy enough to leverage the loopholes in the system. So can you imagine how hard it is for kids without those privileges? But that is the challenge FIFA faces trying to regulate the world's most popular game - in countries with billions of people, to ones with thousands. From billion dollar clubs, to grassroots ones like ours. No one-size-fits-all approach works, so exceptions are needed (and inevitably abused.) Particularly given our club's diverse membership, and location in the heart of the cosmopolitan but highly transient Silicon Valley, our role within this global ecosystem is to continuously educate our members, while also advocating for changes to benefit them. And this extends beyond FIFA regulations to many aspects of life. Because we are, first and foremost, an educational organization - we just use soccer as our medium. And while millions of dollars will continue to pour into the U.S. game as it grows at all levels - MLS, NWSL, the 2026 World Cup - youth soccer clubs should never forget this responsibility we have to our players, families, and communities. #fifa #ussoccer #youthsports #sportforgood

NEW BRIEF by Amnesty and the Sports & Rights Alliance shows that the human rights strategies presented by the 4 main bidders, hoping to host the 2030 & 2034 men’s FIFA World Cups, simply do not explain how they will address the key human rights risks associated w/these tournaments We are concerned that FIFA’s binding human rights requirements are not being taken seriously, and we call on FIFA not to whitewash these bids by ignoring the obvious weaknesses in these strategies, as these are the plans meant to protect players, supporters, workers, etc. In June, we published a report that mapped out the central human rights risks associated with the two bids. These human rights strategies fail to address many of these, and there is a general absence of State commitments which is necessary to avoid tournament-related abuses. The bid by 🇲🇦, 🇵🇹 & 🇪🇸 can only be accepted conditionally, by requiring the development of comprehensive and credible human rights strategies, based on stakeholder dialogue, that mitigates and addresses central human rights concerns. 🚨The bid by Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 implies such an elevated human rights risk that it cannot, at this point, be considered to be in compliance with FIFA’s fully binding human rights requirements and thus should not be approved until widespread and comprehensive reforms are announced.

🚀 The launch of the #UEC has sparked a wave of regulatory changes in European football over the past 18 months, from governance reforms to increased solidarity payments and new benefit programmes ⚽ The UEC welcomes these initiatives and the fact that hundreds of European football clubs are now enjoying access to events, workshops and services previously unavailable to them 🗳️ However, governance itself has remained largely stagnant over the last 15 years, with only 114 European Club Association (ECA) ordinary members having the power to elect representatives who make decisions impacting all European professional clubs 🌍 Furthermore, recent major decisions impacting competitive balance, such as the revamp of the FIFA Club World Cup appear to have been made without any transparency as to the vote involving ordinary members or their representatives on the Board 🎯 Our core mission at the UEC is to bring every club into the fold of governance, creating a truly democratic system that represents all with #OneClubOneVote

🔍 Saudi Arabia’s 2034 FIFA World Cup Bid and the Shadow of Sportswashing by Mikaela DesLauriers 🔍 🌐 Saudi Arabia’s rapid and successful bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, backed by a potential USD 1 billion sponsorship deal with state-owned ARAMCO, has sparked significant concerns about “sportswashing” and the integrity of the bidding process. The expedited awarding, 11 years ahead of the event, deviates from FIFA’s traditionally lengthy investigatory processes, raising eyebrows globally. 📌 Key Insights: 1. Expedited Process and Policy Relaxations: FIFA’s swift awarding and relaxed stadium policies have led to allegations of a compromised bidding process, reminiscent of past controversies with Russia and Qatar. 2. Sponsorship Deal: ARAMCO’s potential sponsorship, with payments reaching USD 100 million annually, casts a shadow over the integrity of FIFA’s decision-making. 3. Human Rights Concerns: Saudi Arabia’s bid highlights severe human rights issues, including the suppression of activists, lack of labor protections, and discriminatory laws against LGBTQ+ individuals. 4. Labor Abuses: Echoing Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia’s reliance on millions of migrant workers for stadium construction raises alarms about wage theft, forced labor, and harsh working conditions. 5. Call for Accountability: Human Rights Watch urges FIFA to enforce its human rights policy rigorously, ensuring the World Cup does not become a tool for legitimising abuses. The intersection of sports and politics in Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid underscores the need for FIFA to uphold its commitment to human rights, ensuring the integrity of the world’s most celebrated sporting event. 👉 To learn more, click here: https://lnkd.in/dZeBADeU 💬 Join the conversation! What measures can FIFA implement to ensure the World Cup does not become a platform for sportswashing? #FIFAWorldCup #Sportswashing #HumanRights #SaudiArabia #FIFA #MigrantWorkers #SportsIntegrity

Football agents and amendments to the FIFA Statutes circulated for the 74th FIFA Congress to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 17 May 2024. Reading between the lines of the proposals:  - Football agents: There are no changes to the articles dealing with football agents. Is this good news? Yes and no. See below.  - Football fans: 1) Official recognition as a FIFA football stakeholder (see definition no. 18): Fans have been added to the list of stakeholders alongside clubs, players, coaches and professional leagues. 2) Fans have also been given their own standing committee, the Fans Committee (see Art. 39(21)). - New standing committees: these FIFA working formats are to be increased from 7 to 35 in one go. Amazing! In recent years, there has been a desperate desire to (globally) regulate the football agents services, in complete ignorance of their role in the industry at the FIFA institutional level (i.e. no stakeholder recognition and no standing committee).  - Headquarters and legal domicile of FIFA: The relocation of the legal and compliance department to Maimi, Florida, has already been announced. However, it appears that this is not just about this department, but (at some point) about the whole association. Zurich (Switzerland) is deleted from Art. 1(2) and it will read as follows: The legal domicile of FIFA shall be determined by a decision of the Congress. Then modified Art. 67(2) in Transitory provisions (?) read as follows: FIFA’s headquarters and legal domicile are located in Zurich (Switzerland), until the Congress takes a decision in accordance with Art. 1(2). Is this preparatory work for a major change at the next Congress? Will we see the first Swiss association domiciled in the USA or other place? That remains to be seen... Note: the attached PDF file contains extracts from the FIFA Statutes amendments. The full package of the Statutes documents can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dMTs33hj #ffar #sportsbusiness #footballregulation #sportslaw #footballlaw #football #footballnews #footballagent #footballbusiness #fifa #bangkok #thailand #zurich #switzerland #miami #florida #usa #ffaronline #congress