The benefits of a World Cup are vast – for football fans, for the local economy and for multinational companies – but those benefits must be shared. The awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia while the legacy of Qatar 2022 still lies in tatters for thousands of migrant workers who toiled to make it possible should serve as a red flag. As the FIFA circus heads again to a region with the worst human rights protections on several fronts – labour rights, freedom of expression and the press – we cannot tolerate ‘business as usual’ again. FIFA, its sponsors, and multinational companies likely already eyeing up lucrative infrastructure contracts have a legal and ethical responsibility to respect human rights. Particularly those of the most vulnerable migrant workers, who will undoubtedly form the backbone of the “historic transformation” to prepare Saudi Arabia for this global event in 2034.Phil Bloomer, Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Centre
The bid involves the refurbishment of four stadiums and construction of 11 more. Besides this, Saudi Arabia plans to spend an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure, including roads, hotels, broadcast facilities, fan festival sites and accommodation of more than 230,000 rooms to align with FIFA requirements.
There are estimates of over 10 million migrant workers living in Saudi Arabia, providing much-needed but mostly low-paid labour in all sectors of the economy. International media, human rights and diaspora organisations have all raised concerns in the run up to the bid award. This page collates information on human rights concerns raised to date, FIFA and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation's commissioned human rights impact assessment, and the responsibilities of companies to respect human and migrant workers' rights in preparation for the tournament.
By the numbers (January 1 2022 – November 30 2025)
This tracker will be updated on a monthly basis and includes cases dating from January 2022 in Saudi Arabia. If you would like more information on reading and accessing the data or would like to submit a case to the tracker, please contact us.
139
Allegations
Impacting migrant workers in Saudi Arabia
1
Stadium
Already linked to alleged migrant worker abuse
37%
Construction
Construction workers are particularly at risk of labour abuse
44%
Barriers accessing non-judicial remedy
Most frequently reported abuse for migrants in Saudi Arabia
Joint Statement: Award of 2034 men’s World Cup to Saudi Arabia risks lives and exposes FIFA’s empty human rights commitments
A coalition of over 20 Saudi diaspora and Middle East, workers' origin country-based, international, trade union and fan organisations released a joint statement in response to the vote awarding the 2034 World Cup to FIFA. They state FIFA has ignored both civil society warnings of harm, and its own human rights policies in doing so. The statement highlights the obligations of Saudi authorities, and the responsibilities to respect human rights from FIFA, football associations, sponsors and companies seeking to profit from the World Cup.
Human rights concerns
Unions, labour rights, sports and governance, legal and diaspora-led organisations have all raised concerns regarding the potential human rights impacts of the tournament.
Saudi Arabia: Two new reports catalogue worker deaths on construction sites amid "building boom" fuelled by 2034 FIFA Football World Cup; incl. cos. responses & non-responses
Two reports were published in May 2025 highlighting migrant worker rights violations on Saudi Arabian construction sites amid a building boom fuelled by the 2034 FIFA Football World Cup. The reports investigate the deaths of migrant workers in the country, and find many are “erroneously” classified as natural and are not investigated or compensated.
Saudi Arabia: Trade unions from 36 countries file complaint with ILO over migrant worker abuse ahead of 2034 FIFA World Cup; incl. FIFA comment
Trade unions from 36 countries have filed a complaint with the International Labor Organisation over human rights violations impacting migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, calling for a 'commission of inquiry' into labour rights in the country ahead of the FIFA 2034 World Cup.
BWI files ILO forced labour complaint ahead of 2034 FIFA World Cup bid amid 'epidemic' of migrant worker abuse
In a landmark case, Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) has filed a complaint against Saudi Arabia under Article 24 of the ILO constitution, amid widespread human rights violations against migrant workers in the country. In this case, the complaint focuses on Saudi Arabia's failure to observe ILO conventions on forced labour, which the country has ratified.
Further Reading
Temas relacionados
Arabia Saudita: Críticas por incumplir con requisición de la FIFA sobre derechos humanos en el marco de la Copa Mundial masculina 2034
Aministía Internacional menciona que Arabia Saudita no cumple los requisitos de la FIFA en materia …