Athlete Ally Statement on FIFA Risk Assessment Ratings for 2026 World Cup Bid

Athlete Ally is deeply concerned by the risk assessment ratings released by FIFA last week with regard to the 2026 World Cup Bid. Both Morocco and the United Bid scored the same risk level in terms of human rights and labor standards, yet Morocco has an explicitly anti-LGBTQ law on the books that would allow LGBTQ athletes and fans to be imprisoned for who they love.

FIFA has promised to respect, protect and remedy human rights abuses when it developed its new human rights framework, yet assigning the same level of risk to hypothetical laws as to actual laws is incredibly troubling — and undermines the integrity of the new bid process. The World Cup brings a global, diverse fanbase — and to discount the experience of LGBTQ fans and athletes is to deny their existence.