Terre des Hommes welcomes FIFA’s new mission statement which includes an explicit pledge to discuss the preservation of human rights at future World Cups.
In the document, FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future, new president Gianni Infantino promises to bring all relevant stakeholders together in 2017 to discuss the world governing body’s duty “to preserve the inherent dignity and equal rights of each and every individual affected by FIFA’s activities.”
In a drive for efficiency, FIFA will organise all World Cups after Qatar 2022 via a centralised management operating structure, moving away from the current model of local organising committees managed by different in-country staff at each tournament.
Their document states: “FIFA will reassess the current World Cup bidding process and recommend concrete changes, building upon recent improvements in the process, to ensure an efficient and transparent bidding competition featuring sound technical analyses and open engagement with the relevant stakeholders.
“The breadth and impact of FIFA’s global operations creates a duty to preserve the inherent dignity and equal rights of each and every individual affected by FIFA’s activities. Proactively responding to this obligation, FIFA will convene a gathering of all relevant stakeholders in 2017 to discuss the important matters of human rights and gender equality and the role that FIFA will play in the preservation of these basic rights.”
Terre des Hommes welcomes this move towards progress and is delighted that Children Win’s key messages have been addressed. We will now closely monitor the implementation of these pledges and processes.
“There is still much work to be done, but this is a tangible sign of progress. This acknowledgement by FIFA is a small but important step in the right direction,” commented Children Win’s Senior Research Coordinator, Dr Marianne Meier.
