Protecting Rights Beyond the Game: Nonprofit Advocacy for Human Rights at the World Cup

As a way to prevent potential abuses that could occur during the World Cup, Amnesty International in March of this year published a report titled “Humanity Must Win,” warning that the travel restrictions imposed by the United States and its immigration policies were tarnishing the beauty of the game.

“ICE and other agencies constitute a chilling threat to those living in the United States, to those traveling there to attend a match, and to the players themselves,” the report read.

One of the most significant episodes, widely denounced as an act of discrimination, occurred just as the World Cup started and involved Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan. Selected from among about 50 referees on the official roster of the tournament, he was detained by US authorities, interrogated, and taken to a holding cell.

He had traveled from Turkey to Miami and, as he later recounted in an interview with The New York Times, was deported back to his country. Just a year earlier, he had been recognized as Men’s Referee of the Year in Africa by the regional football confederation. “My documentation was in order,” he insisted, explaining that he only sought to fulfill his dream of officiating at a World Cup.

As CJ García, organizing co-director at Fair Work Center, said in conversation with NPQ: “We all saw what happened to the Somali referee, who was shamefully denied entrance. We are also witnessing what is happening to the Iranian delegation and the soccer federation. Certain groups are being welcomed, while others are simply dismissed.”

Although constrained by war, Iran decided to participate in the World Cup, but its delegation had to be based in Mexico due to US immigration restrictions, which meant that some members could only enter US territory on the day of the match.

García explained that these incidents reveal a troubling pattern of exclusion, undermining equal treatment and dignity at a global event.

Concerns Beyond Detentions

In their role leading initiatives to protect labor rights, ensure fair wages, and fight for immigrant protections in Seattle, García stressed that such discrimination cannot be normalized.

The Somali community in the US is often in the president’s crosshairs. In February of this year, Trump declared on television that “Somalia is not even a country” and that “they don’t have anything resembling a country.” For the US president, the African nation was “considered practically the worst in the world,” which he described as a “terrible place.” In the same speech, he disparaged Somalis, attributing as their only virtue “piracy of large ships at sea” and claiming that “there are many people with very low IQs.”

That discriminatory tone was accompanied by institutional decisions. In January 2026, the Department of Homeland Security announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia, which since 1991 had allowed thousands of Somalis to live and work legally in the United States. Although a court order provisionally suspended the measure, the withdrawal of this humanitarian protection exposes the Somali community to greater risk of deportation and precariousness.

The World Cup also exposes workers to unsafe and exploitative labor conditions.

Organizations representing the US Islamic community also expressed discontent with Artan’s expulsion. “Our nation should not bar anyone simply because of their race or ethnicity. That is especially true in the case of a coach, a referee, or any other person coming to participate in the World Cup,” Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Al Jazeera.

He further argued that Somali visitors undergo the same verification process as any other visitor and that, once that control is passed, there is no reason to deny them entry solely on the basis of nationality, since doing so constitutes an offense to values and to the law.

The incidents faced by these delegations fit into a broader pattern consistent with what was highlighted in CAIR’s Civil Rights Report 2026, which warned that the Trump administration’s immigration policies produce a scheme of racial and religious profiling that disproportionately impacts Muslim communities.

Nonprofit organizations have stressed that their concerns about migrant communities extend far beyond the risk of detentions. They emphasize that the World Cup also exposes workers to unsafe and exploitative labor conditions, making labor protections a central part of their advocacy.

As the organizer of the World Cup, FIFA carries a fundamental responsibility to ensure that human rights are respected throughout the tournament.

Lizeth Chacón, executive director of Workers Defense Action Fund, told NPQ: “We decided to get involved as an organization to ensure that we were pushing FIFA and city officials to guarantee strong worker protections. For us, that meant making several demands of FIFA representatives to ensure those protections were in place.”

She added that, in response to these fears of possible detentions within migrant communities, her organization has worked to provide risk-awareness guidance. This included advising workers to carry proper documentation, to keep an attorney’s number available, and to ensure that a trusted family member knows their plans—for example, confirming safe return after attending a game or finishing a shift.

Human Rights Standards

As the organizer of the World Cup, FIFA carries a fundamental responsibility to ensure that human rights are respected throughout the tournament. This obligation goes beyond the spectacle of the game, requiring the institution to safeguard the dignity of players, workers, and communities affected by the event. By embedding human rights standards into its governance and demanding compliance from host countries, FIFA is expected to set the tone for accountability.

Faced with the migration incidents affecting players and referees, Gianni Infantino, FIFA president since 2016, sought to downplay them. He explained that the organization had negotiated with US authorities for some flexibility in visas and that costs had been reduced to facilitate the entry of delegations. He acknowledged, however, that FIFA cannot impose itself on governments or control every situation, and regarding Artan’s case, he argued that the best thing was “to relax and trust FIFA.”

Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, stated in conversation with NPQ: “It’s very worrying that FIFA did not step up to ensure that the rights they are supposed to respect are actually fulfilled by the host country, because this is the first World Cup that had human rights from the bidding phase until the implementation.”

Florence explained that civil society organizations had fought for many years to ensure FIFA included human rights in its statutes—a milestone achieved in 2016. She noted that when the US, Mexico, and Canada won the bid in 2018 to host this year’s World Cup, it marked the first time human rights were embedded from the very beginning of the process.

She also said that this context makes FIFA’s lack of enforcement particularly troubling, since the inclusion of human rights was meant to be a landmark achievement in the organization’s governance. Florence stressed that the credibility of those commitments is now at stake.

Troubling Legacies Left Behind

While pressing FIFA to uphold its human rights commitments is essential, advocates emphasize that this effort must be complemented by demands directed at local and state authorities. Global pressure ensures accountability at the top, but lasting legacies are shaped by host cities and communities, where policies on labor protections, immigration enforcement, and public safety directly affect residents.

“I think it’s really helpful for international human rights organizations to exert their pressure on FIFA from the top down. But really, if you’re looking at long-term legacies, in America it’s about how we can implement pressure from the bottom up. FIFA will leave in a few months’ time, distracted by the next tournament, but the host cities and their residents are the ones holding the receipts. They don’t see FIFA as the target as much as they see their own elected officials,” Jennifer Li, coordinator of Dignity 2026 and director of the Center for Community Health Innovation at Georgetown Law, said to NPQ in an interview.

She added that mega sporting events often leave behind troubling legacies. As an example, she pointed to Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics, where the city built a jail in the center to house more than 9,000 homeless Black men—a legacy that residents still remember. Li stressed that communities must remain cautious about how human rights are respected so that everyone benefits, or at least is not harmed, as happened in Atlanta or Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics.

Advocates highlight that true protection begins with prevention and close collaboration with communities. By engaging directly with residents, nonprofits can anticipate risks, and provide the tools needed to safeguard both migrant families and workers.

Haddy Gassama, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, told NPQ the ACLU has distributed “know your rights” materials for people attending stadiums, in case ICE shows up. Gassama also emphasized that this World Cup is taking place amid high-stakes immigration cases before the US Supreme Court — including decisions on TPS and DACA—which has heightened fear and vigilance among immigrant communities.

“There’s a sense of fear in a lot of communities. There’s apprehension about going out, even though this is a sport everybody loves. Even if you can’t afford a ticket, you might want to go to a local bar or gathering place to watch,” she said. “But immigrant communities are vigilant about being out or gathering where there might be heavy police or ICE presence, and that has changed the energy around the game.”

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