FIFA urged to act on worker safety as Saudi World Cup concerns grow

FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia, come 2034, has had preparations for it, springing up major constructions, and concerns have been raised, regarding workers’ safety.

Reports reaching Diaspora Digital Media, as of Wednesday, May 14, 2025, suggest that migrant workers are expected to die in Saudi Arabia due to the surge in construction driven by preparations for the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

Human rights organizations issued this warning to FIFA, so that these projected casualties due to World Cup preparations and other major infrastructure projects, can be avoided.

Since 2021, Saudi Arabia has witnessed a sharp rise in its demand for low-wage foreign labor.

These have coincided with the launch of massive development initiatives such as the futuristic megacity Neom and the early groundwork for hosting the World Cup.

This influx of migrant workers has raised serious concerns about their safety and well-being.

In two separate reports released on Wednesday, human rights organizations raised alarms over the extreme risks faced by these workers.

They also condemned the Saudi government for a lack of transparency surrounding the causes and numbers of migrant worker deaths.

James Lynch, co-director of FairSquare, a group that authored one of the reports, emphasized the danger migrant laborers face.

“Hundreds of thousands of young men … are being pitched into a labour system that poses a serious risk to their lives,” he said.

Lynch criticized FIFA’s praise for Saudi Arabia while families in countries like Nepal suffer the consequences.

“Children in places like Nepal grow up without their fathers and never even learn how they died,” he added.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a separate publication, also highlighted the lethal consequences of the ongoing construction boom.

The organization accused FIFA of “knowingly risking yet another tournament that will unnecessarily come at a grave human cost.”

The HRW report cataloged numerous fatal incidents at Saudi construction sites involving migrant workers.

These included decapitations, electrocutions, and falls from significant heights—many of which were preventable.

The report described the emotional and financial devastation left behind in the victims’ families, who often struggle without adequate compensation.

One such incident was reported earlier this year by The Guardian.

The report revealed that a Pakistani worker had died after falling from height while working on a World Cup stadium in Al Khobar, a city in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Saudi law stipulates that the families of workers who die on the job are entitled to compensation, either from a government-backed insurance scheme or directly from their employers.

However, HRW criticized this system as “long and burdensome,” citing numerous cases where bereaved families received little to no support.

While Saudi authorities have claimed that workplace injuries and fatalities have significantly declined, human rights groups remain unconvinced.

FairSquare expressed serious doubts about how worker deaths are being classified and investigated.

The organization reported “serious shortcomings in the manner in which the authorities in Saudi Arabia investigate and certify migrant worker deaths.”

Many of these deaths are labeled as “natural,” a designation that FairSquare argues often masks the true cause, which may be tied directly or indirectly to harsh working and living conditions.

According to FairSquare, the “natural” classification serves as a catch-all for deaths that do not fall under the categories of workplace accidents, road incidents, or violence.

This labeling practice conceals the true scale and nature of the crisis, the group said.

Supporting this claim is a 2019 study by a Saudi pathologist who examined all death certificates issued by a Riyadh hospital between 1997 and 2016.

The pathologist found that either the cause of death was incorrectly stated or entirely missing in every case.

Alarmingly, 75% of those certificates listed no cause of death whatsoever.

In response to inquiries from The Guardian, FIFA shared a letter it had previously sent to HRW.

In the letter, FIFA asserted its commitment to protecting workers involved in World Cup-related construction.

It emphasized collaboration with Saudi authorities and international labor organizations and claimed that the steps being taken could “set a new standard for worker protection.”

The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development was contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.

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