A review of the legitimacy of FIFA’s participation in Qatar’s human rights governance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Respecting and protecting human rights is one of the fundamental principles stipulated in the FIFA Charter. In the case of labour issues in Qatar, there is a legality issue with FIFA’s participation in Qatar’s human rights issues. FIFA has not clarified either its legal status or responsibilities in participating in human rights governance. FIFA claims that its involvement is based on the International Bill of Human Rights and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, but neither of these gives FIFA the right to directly intervene in the human rights affairs of other sovereign states. Therefore, it is necessary to review the legal insturments of the human rights sanctions imposed by FIFA in the Qatar case and deduce from various legal documents those activities in which FIFA is entitled to engage, and the role it had played and would play in human rights issues deduced from the FIFA’s practice in Qatar.