What Seattle learned from Qatar about hosting the World Cup
Seattle is about to welcome the previous host of the FIFA Men's World Cup, Qatar, to Seattle Stadium for a match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday - but in the nearly four years since, much has changed in terms of what it takes to host the world's biggest tournament.
This is the first time human rights has been a part of the tournament's bidding process.
Before being selected, prospective hosts had to forecast possible human rights concerns in their countries during the games by consulting stakeholders and plan how to prevent and mitigate them in accordance with FIFA's new human rights framework. Once the U.S., Canada and Mexico's united bid was selected, each of the 16 cities needed to plan individually.
But that's not how it always was.
"Qatar was a catalyst" for this change, according to University of Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry, who has served as a human rights adviser, planner and organizer for committees with FIFA, the United Nations and Seattle.
A mixed legacy
More than 6,500 migrant workers from Southeast Asia died in Qatar in the 10 years leading up to the 2022 World Cup while the Arab country built infrastructure in preparation, The Guardian reported.
A 2023 report commissioned by a FIFA subcommittee found that "severe human rights impacts" occurred, including injuries, months of unpaid wages and crippling debts for workers and their families, on top of the thousands of deaths.
The U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights urged FIFA to integrate human rights into its planning in 2014 while Qatar prepared. At the same time, FIFA was embroiled in a yearslong corruption scandal alleging racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering and bribery among high-ranking officials, two of whom had their cases dismissed by a U.S. federal judge in May.
Qatar's hosting left a "mixed legacy," Ramasastry said, as the country dealt with issues "midstream" instead of preventing them beforehand.
The scrutiny led Qatar to improve its labor laws before the games began, more of which were passed in recent years, including worker protections like minimum wage, freedom to change employers and efforts to combat forced labor and human trafficking.
Activists said Qatar's progress stagnated after the World Cup, though. The International Labor Organization said that while improvements had been made, further reforms were necessary - a sentiment echoed by the U.N. human rights council in 2024.
The FIFA-commissioned report said the soccer governing body shared a responsibility to compensate workers who suffered, but FIFA opted instead to use its $50 million Qatar legacy fund on international development projects.
New concerns
At this year's World Cup, Qatar is just another team as they celebrate a draw with Group B favorite Switzerland. Now it's Seattle and its 15 co-hosts' turn to anticipate, prevent and remedy human rights issues.
Ramasastry said the issues Seattle is facing today are a bit different from the ones her local committee detailed years ago when she and her students spoke with community groups and other stakeholders.
Some priorities like workers' rights, human trafficking, homelessness and discrimination have stayed the same, she said. But others have come to the fore, like safe protesting, immigration enforcement while ICE participates in security at the games, and LGBTQ+ issues as Iran and Egypt - two countries that have punished homosexuality - face off in Seattle's Pride Match.
But without an operating budget, the local human rights organizing committee is relying on existing resources, Ramasastry said. It has worked to organize those, instructed visitors, workers and World Cup participants how to use them, and prepared service providers and organizers to deal with issues as they arise.
Unsheltered homeless people in Chinatown International District and Pioneer Square could have lost access to services as providers worked to shelter every homeless person in the area before the games, Ramasastry said. The human rights team worked with providers to set up mobile methadone clinics to remedy anyone's lost access to their medication.
Labor standards agreements between Seattle Stadium and unions guaranteed workers a good wage and Seattle's office of labor standards educated workers about their rights and how to make claims, while the Fair Work Center worked with diverse and immigrant worker communities, she said.
It's been challenging to address issues like immigration enforcement and protection for LGBTQ+ rights because it's "all an unknown" how things will play out, but learning how to stay safe will be important, Ramasastry said. Seattle's How We Pride campaign promotes organized celebrations. The city and King County have outlawed immigration enforcement staging on their property.
Preventing human rights abuses around protesting has been a matter of teaching people about their rights with ACLU of Washington resources and communicating with law enforcement, though no official agreements were made, Ramasastry said. Protests against ICE have already sparked citywide, with demonstrators ignoring extremely tiny "designated protest zones" outside the stadium.
Ramasastry's team has aggregated resources and helpful information in Seattle FWC26's playbook Getting Help and Reporting Harm, and FIFA has launched a "grievance mechanism" for reporting human rights concerns and discrimination.
After the World Cup is over, FIFA's human rights team and the host cities will reflect on successes and failures and work to remedy issues that came up during the tournament, Ramasastry said. It remains to be seen how exactly that will work.
Already, Ramasastry said she has met with Moroccan human rights representatives at the U.N. to discuss their preparation to host the World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal in 2030.
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