In May 2025, two reports were published highlighting migrant worker rights violations on Saudi Arabian construction sites amid a building boom fuelled by the 2034 FIFA Football World Cup.

As noted by FairSquare, the 2034 World Cup will require at least “eight new stadiums, 73 new training facilities with associated accommodation, an increase in Saudi Arabia’s hotel capacity of nearly 500%, and a series of huge transport infrastructure projects”. Amid this surge in construction, it is "highly probably" the World Cup will be accompanied by "thousands of unexplained deaths”, FairSquare alleges.

The first report, published by FairSquare, investigates the deaths of low-paid migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. It finds there is a “critical absence” of policies or processes to determine the cause of the migrants’ deaths.

• The report investigates the deaths of 17 Nepali workers employed in construction and other low-paid sectors on major projects. This includes a migrant working for Samsung C&T constructing transport infrastructure for NEOM; the death of a worker cleaning Jeddah Superdome (operated by Sela); and the death of a worker on the Qiddiya entertainment and tourism megaproject (part of Qiddiya Investment Company). Workers were struck by vehicles, fell from roofs, or where exposed to extreme heat, among other alleged safety risks. FairSquare wrote to Samsung C&T; they had not responded at the time of publication.
• The report also highlights the role of FIFA, who FairSquare says has “exposed” its human rights policies as a “sham” by awarding to 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia (see more here, and criticism of the company’s human rights context assessment here). The decision was worsened, FairSquare alleges, by making Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Aramco a “Major Worldwide Partner”, which the report contrasts with FIFA’s climate strategy.

The second report, by Human Rights Watch, also outlines avoidable workplace accidents experienced by migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

• The report is based on interviews with the families of 31 deceased migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh and India. It alleges that by awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, FIFA is “knowingly risking yet another tournament that will unnecessarily come at a grave human cost”.
• It says many deaths are “erroneously” classified as natural and are not investigated or compensated. It calls on FIFA, other employers and Saudi authorities to ensure migrant deaths are investigated and the families of victims receive fair and timely remedy.

FIFA responded to an article in The Guardian describing both reports by sharing its response to Human Rights Watch, saying it “seeks to play its part in ensuring strong protections for workers employed by third parties in the construction of FIFA World Cup sites”.

In June 2025, the Business & Human rights Resource Centre invited Aramco, NEOM, Qiddiya Investment Company and Sela to respond to the reporting. A response from Qiddiya Investment Company can be read in full below. NEOM, Sela and Aramco did not respond.

In October 2025, FIFA announced that it had reached an agreement with the Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), establishing a framework for joint inspections, training, and reporting to promote safe and decent working conditions for all workers involved in the construction and renovation of stadiums and other infrastructure linked to FIFA tournaments. Under the agreement, joint labor inspections will be implemented, workers’ representatives will receive training, corrective actions and remedies will be ensured when adverse impacts are identified, and reports will be publicly published.