Robinson and Ruggie Open Letter to FIFA on Human Rights

In a letter to FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and John Ruggie, former UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, on behalf of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), urge football’s governing body to fully integrate human rights considerations into its decision making.

Robinson, IHRB Patron, and Ruggie, Chair of IHRB's International Advisory Board, call on FIFA and all sports governing bodies to make an explicit commitment to respect human rights and establish a strategy for integrating relevant international standards such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into their operations.

Over the past year, IHRB has been researching the human rights impacts of mega-sporting events and recently launched a dedicated website which provides a range of resources for all actors involved in planning and delivering such events.

Robinson and Ruggie stress that:

“All countries face human rights challenges, but more effective and sustained due diligence is clearly needed with respect to decisions about host nations and how major sporting events are planned and implemented.”