Evaluating Human Rights Commitments: FIFA World Cup 2026 NY/NJ

SUMMARY

The New York City Bar Association’s Civil Rights Committee (Evan Henley, Co-Chair), the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee (Sabeena Ahmed, Co-Chair) and the Business and Human Rights Committee (Isabelle Glimcher and Isedua Oribhabor, Co-Chairs) issued a letter encouraging the FIFA World Cup 2026 New York New Jersey Host Committee and local government partners to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the tournament’s human rights impacts after the conclusion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The letter also welcomes the release of the New York New Jersey Human Rights Action Plan, while emphasizing the need to assess whether those commitments are ultimately fulfilled.  

The Committees urge that, with more than one million expected visitors and 3.3 billion dollars in projected economic activity, a transparent post-tournament review is essential to identify successes, address shortcomings, and inform large-scale future events. Because the FIFA Men’s World Cup is the first World Cup event with human rights bidding requirements, there is a tremendous opportunity for New York and New Jersey to set an invaluable precedent for future FIFA hosts to follow and to give the public renewed confidence in the region’s commitment to human rights. The Committees end the letter by calling on the Hosts to commit to a public process devoted to evaluating the human rights performance of the NYNJ Host Committee and the other participants in the 2026 World Cup events in view of the commitments made in the NYNJ HR Plan. 

REPORT

RE: Post-Event Human Rights Evaluation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Dear FIFA World Cup 2026™ New York New Jersey Host Committee, New York State government, New Jersey State government, New York City government, and East Rutherford government (together, the Hosts),[1]

The New York City Bar Association’s Business and Human Rights Committee, Civil Rights Committee, and the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee (“the Committees”) welcome the release of the New York New Jersey FIFA World Cup 2026 Human Rights Action Plan (NYNJ HR Plan).[2] We write to urge you to undertake an evaluation after the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup, in close consultation with key stakeholders and experts, to assess (1) the extent to which responsible parties met or failed to meet the commitments set forth in the NYNJ HR Plan, (2) the areas in which the NYNJ HR Plan addressed or failed to address adverse human rights impacts, and (3) key lessons learned as a result of the foregoing review that should apply to human rights considerations applicable to future major events, including but not limited to the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup. This evaluation should be made public once it is concluded.

The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup is the first World Cup event with human rights bidding requirements,[3] the first with a Human Rights Strategy as part of the award, and the first with a Human Rights Framework.[4]  Released in July 2024, the Framework instructs Host Committees to “develop tailored Host City Human Rights Action Plans in consultation with FIFA World Cup 26, local governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and community groups.” The Human Rights Framework calls on Host Cities to focus their Human Rights Action Plans on human rights violations in three areas: inclusion and safeguarding, workers’ rights, and access to remedy.

The NYNJ Stadium will host eight matches, including the FIFA World Cup 26 Final on July 19, 2026. As World Cup Czar in the New York City (NYC) Mayor’s Office, Maya Handa, testified to the NYC Council, “The World Cup will not be felt only inside of a stadium. It will be felt on subway platforms, on buses, on sidewalks, in parks, and on neighborhood commercial corridors across all five boroughs.”[5] The World Cup will therefore bring a host of human rights impacts across the entire region as well. Indeed, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State government expects more than 1.1 million visitors to come to the region, potentially generating US$ 3.3 billion of economic activity.[6]

In our view, New York and New Jersey must lead, not only on making human rights commitments, but also on fulfilling their respective promises to their citizens and to visitors. Releasing the NYNJ HR Plan one month before the start of the games is not enough. A robust monitoring and evaluation process is crucial to ensuring rights protection and identifying gaps that can be remedied in future events. By undertaking and publishing the human rights evaluation, New York and New Jersey can demonstrate to the world their sincere human rights commitments, create an invaluable precedent for other FIFA hosts to follow, and ensure decision-makers capture key lessons to inform planning for future large-scale events.

In view of these important goals, the Committees call on the Hosts to commit to a public process devoted to comprehensively evaluating the human rights performance of the NYNJ Host Committee and the other participants in the 2026 World Cup events in view of the commitments made in the NYNJ HR Plan.

Respectfully,

Business and Human Rights Committee
Isabelle Glimcher, Co-Chair
Isedua Oribhabor, Co-Chair

Civil Rights Committee
Evan Henley, Co-Chair

Foreign and Comparative Law Committee
Sabeena Ahmed, Co-Chair