In February 2023, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited FIFA to respond to civil society concerns regarding a recent decision to grant Saudi Arabia the hosting rights for the Club World Cup 2023 and to disclose any human rights due diligence undertaken in advance of the decision.

The decision comes after sustained criticism from human rights groups of the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, which was widely associated with serious labour rights abuses against the migrant workers who worked to make it possible. Amnesty International said “FIFA is once again discarding its own human rights policy and is complicit in blatant sports washing”. FIFA's response can be read in full below.