As Saudi Arabia hastens preparations to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sounded a dire warning of mounting threats to migrant workers toiling on huge construction sites across the kingdom. The human rights organization alleges that the workers are already being subjected to hazardous working conditions that have been leading to scores of preventable deaths and serious injuries and the dangers are still mounting.
A blistering report published on Wednesday by HRW pointed out a shocking pattern of dereliction where “scores of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia die in gruesome yet preventable workplace-related incidents.” Falls, electrocutions, and even beheadings are some of the accidents all of which indicate slack safety practices in workplaces.
“As Saudi Arabia rushes on construction for the 2034 World Cup and its larger ‘giga-projects,’ danger of on-site deaths is escalating rapidly,” the report cautioned.
A World Cup Tainted by Labor Issues
Saudi Arabia was handed the 2034 FIFA World Cup host rights in December 2024 at a FIFA Congress. The Gulf nation was the only bidder after other nations dropped out following global outcry over its human rights record. The homosexual criminalization and usage of low-income migrant workers, usually from South Asia and Africa, have been highlighted by critics.
With enormous infrastructure building projects afoot — from stadium, hotel, road, and mass transit development — HRW fears the already high death rate could increase even more. They are asking FIFA to intervene and hold someone responsible.
The NGO examined almost 50 death cases and reached the conclusion that Saudi authorities have continued to ignore worker rights. Not only are most of these deaths avoidable, the government has also neglected to properly investigate the cases or compensate the victim families, says HRW. Life insurance compensation and survivor compensation, which is a legal requirement in such circumstances, are either non-existent or weakly enforced.
Call for FIFA Accountability
HRW’s report calls on FIFA to move quickly to defend the rights of all workers who toil on World Cup-related projects in Saudi Arabia. It calls on the governing body of soccer to:
- Investigate thoroughly each work-related death.
- Award bereaved families proper and timely compensation.
- Enforce safety and dignity protections for all workers.
FIFA has even replied to HRW reports by saying that it is developing a system for workers’ welfare that will have “dedicated mandatory standards and mechanisms for enforcement applicable to all businesses and workers engaged in World Cup-related construction and delivery of services.”
“This is the same error Qatar committed during the 2022 World Cup,”
HRW added, referencing the general outcry at the time about the circumstances prior to that event. Coverage at the time from human rights groups like Amnesty International reported that thousands of workers were killed in Qatar. The Qatari government refuted these figures, with just 37 World Cup workers having died — and only three as on-the-job fatalities.
Shocking Statistics and Misclassified Fatalities
The most shocking discovery of the HRW report is probably the widespread misclassification of migrant workers’ deaths. They are overwhelmingly “natural causes” — a term which, in practice, all too often means the deaths go unexamined and the families are not paid.
From the viewpoint of HRH, such a strategy hides the true effect of risky labor practice. For example, among 1,420 Indian migrant workers who perished at the Indian embassy in Riyadh in 2023, 74% were said to be caused by “natural causes.”
Even where death is lawfully certified to be work-related, HRW asserts that compensation must not be taken for granted. In certain cases, families are made to undergo years of legal and bureaucratic delays. The report mentions the situation of a widow waiting almost a decade for compensation after her husband died on the job.
“My two sons, they are aged 11 and 13 years. My husband passed away and they were aged 11 months and two years,”
she informed HRW.
“Had compensation been given to us immediately after his death, it would have brought so much relief to us.”
Saudi Arabia’s Labor Reforms and FIFA’s Stand
In response to the HRW report, FIFA released a letter that it had already sent to the group. In the letter, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom acknowledged that Saudi Arabia made significant progress in recent years. He referred to labor reforms after 2018, including ending some elements of the kafala system, which historically ties migrant workers to employers and restricts their mobility.
Grafstrom also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s continued efforts to collaborate with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in strengthening and refining these reforms.
“FIFA is committed to making its contribution in ensuring that third-party hired workers engaged in FIFA World Cup stadium construction receive robust protections,” he added.
A Pattern of Abuse in Mega-Sporting Events?
This is not the first labor condition scandal at a World Cup FIFA has been accused of. The same issues also beset the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. While Qatar implemented some reforms, most organizations feel these were implemented too late and were not enough to fix systemic problems.
And now, as Saudi Arabia prepares for an even bigger tournament — in the midst of plans for projects like NEOM and The Line — observers fear another human cost will be sacrificed in the name of sports diplomacy.
“International community cannot turn a blind eye while Saudi Arabia is racing to build its World Cup infrastructure,” HRW stated. “Without strong protections, this tournament threatens to be another international spectacle founded on the agony of exploited laborers.”
The Road Ahead: Protecting Worker Health
With more than nine years yet to elapse before the 2034 World Cup, HRW is urging scrutiny immediately. The NGO suggests that:
- Conduct independent safety audits on every World Cup construction site.
- Saudi Arabia strictly enforces their labor codes, including remuneration schemes.
- FIFA publishes all labor welfare policies and submits them to third-party audit.
- The organization also calls for governments whose citizens are employed in Saudi Arabia to insist more strongly on their welfare.
Unless action is taken, HRW warns, the 2034 World Cup will be marred even before the first kick — not by corruption or political scandal, but by avoidable death.