When it was decided that the 2026 World Soccer Championship would be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, criteria were established to respect human rights, those of fans, workers, journalists and local communities.
This makes a lot of sense, because the infrastructure required for an event of this magnitude involves multiple works and the hiring of personnel who must have the appropriate conditions and remuneration.
But also because discrimination must be prevented, children must be protected and human trafficking must be combated.
In essence, the objective is to make the World Cup a space for coexistence, an effective meeting that goes beyond the 48 teams that will participate.
FIFA had to do something after the serious questions it received for holding the World Cup in Qatar, always involved in controversies, from the allegations of corruption with which it obtained the soccer headquarters and even more so regarding the mistreatment of workers.
It was a correct path, but now everything hangs in the balance, due to Donald Trump’s policies regarding the migrant population and the still latent threats of raids being carried out in the vicinity of the stadiums.
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Human Rights Watch with Sport & Rights Alliance, have raised the tone to demand that FIFA and the host committees “restore anti-discrimination messaging, commit to ensuring effective protections against racial profiling, arbitrary detention and misapplication of immigration rules during the tournament.”
World Cups are usually wrapped in dark plots. FIFA officials at the highest level have been subject to accusations of bribery, fraud and money laundering.
At FIFA they know, and they know it well, that the football business is powerful because of the meaning it has for 3.5 billion people.
Perhaps that is why managers tend to play with fire and work in more than foggy lines.
With regard to Mexico, a controversy broke out over the commitments made by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto to FIFA. A cost, perhaps irremediable, in the disputes involved in the choice of venues.
In some ways these are leonine contracts, where national administrations, but especially local ones, assume the burden of the works that have to be carried out.
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The Ministry of Finance explained that the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum renegotiated the conditions and managed to mitigate what was signed in the past, but even so FIFA is favored not to pay taxes and with other fiscal facilities.
What must be asked, in any case, is how the opportunity to celebrate a World Cup for the third time will be taken advantage of.
If we do not deploy an adequate strategy to promote the country and the host cities, then we will be faced with an investment without return. But they don’t have to be like this, especially from the moment the ball rolls again, and let’s restore, however battered they may be, all the dreams that accompany the fans of the planet, where soccer teams play more than just games, and rather shape hopes, even if they win after 90 minutes.
About the author:
Twitter: @jandradej
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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