Before the final whistle blows on the 2026 World Cup, a familiar tension is already bubbling ahead of its next two installments.
Morocco, which will co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, criminalizes same-sex sexual activity. And in Saudi Arabia, host of the 2034 tournament, homosexuality is understood to be illegal under Islamic law.
Both countries submitted plans to address the potential human rights risks associated with hosting the tournament as part of their bids, but human rights advocates say the nations must guarantee that queer fans are not prosecuted under those laws. And they say FIFA, which has an ostensible commitment to fighting discrimination in football, should play a role in securing that.
“It doesn’t mean that FIFA is the world police and somehow has the power to tell countries what to do with their laws,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of labor rights and sports. “But it can certainly engage and use its leverage to put in place measures that would be protective of that.”
The debate over what role FIFA should play in promoting human rights, and how far it should go to do so, is familiar to most fans of international soccer.
FIFA drew criticism from international spectators when it announced ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar that it would deliver a yellow card to team captains who donned the multi-colored “OneLove armband,” while the Qatari Emir said that all would be welcome so long as they respect the country’s culture.
Critics also drew attention to Russian laws prohibiting so-called gay propaganda ahead of the 2018 contest.
Morocco’s human rights strategy document notes that its independent human rights committee and the Moroccan Football Federation would “encourage both the parliament and the government to ratify key international conventions,” broadly referring to widely understood human rights standards, though the document did not explicitly mention discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Saudi Arabia’s proposal similarly makes no explicit mention of addressing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but asserts that the federation would “continuously verify that our legislations and practices align with our commitments to various international agreements pertaining to anti-discrimination and implement any required enhancements.” The nation’s tourism ministry says on its website that it welcomes all people, but it asks visitors to “respect our culture and traditions and follow our laws as they would when visiting any other country in the world.”
“Like other governments around the world, visitors are not required to disclose their personal information and we will respect visitors’ right to privacy,” its tourism FAQs site continues.
The FIFA Congress, made up of its member federations, approved both uncontested bids. FIFA and the Saudi and Moroccan embassies in Washington, D.C., did not respond to requests for comment.
Cockburn, whose organization authored a 2022 report slamming both the Moroccan and Saudi human rights strategies, said FIFA must go to greater lengths to guarantee that queer fans are protected while attending the games. That’s on top of the slew of concerns directed specifically at Saudi Arabia over workers’ rights and a lack of a minimum wage, contained in its report.
Countries regularly guarantee bits of policy to FIFA during negotiations to host World Cups, including special tax arrangements and altered visa protocols.
“There needs to be a bit more of an upfront, honest, grown up conversation about this, so that everyone’s clear, that it’s not fudged and that fans are not left guessing about what the situation is and how to look after themselves,” Cockburn said.
The arrival of the world’s most watched sporting event in those two nations can contribute to “a fair degree of, sort of, cynicism or general, sort of, distrust” among some LGBT-rights advocacy groups that FIFA sometimes doesn’t take this issue on in a systematic way that we would all like to see, said executive director of FIFA’s anti-discrimination partner Fare network Piara Powar.
“They just seem very kind of cautious around it and sadly it’s just not really taking us anywhere,” Jon Holmes, spokesperson for the group Football v Homophobia, said of FIFA.
If history is an indication, however, it’s possible that such concerns over human rights at the World Cup could fade once the international drama of the tournament begins. Such was the case in the U.S., where concerns over potential ICE raids, overwhelmed logistical systems and more — which did cause some to boycott the games — largely faded away amid a wildly successful tournament.
“We all kind of get lost in the event, and the narratives, and the storylines, and the athletes, and the beautiful game, and the cultures all coming together,” said Ryan Trustcott, an associate professor at Gonzaga University who studies the politics of international sports. “But we lose track of the impact and the legacy when it comes to improving human rights.”
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