PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Posted by: Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative

March 13, 2026

Three Months Before the World Cup, Millions Will Be Spent on Security — But Zero Dollars on Human Trafficking Prevention or Human Rights

With only three months until the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School in partnership conducted a review of all U.S. host cities human rights plans. The review showed that FIFA has provided no funding at all for Human Rights Plans or anti-trafficking prevention efforts. At the same time, states are investing enormous sums in security operations. Washington State alone has allocated $600 million for border and law-enforcement activities tied to the tournament. Kansas lawmakers are even considering a disaster declaration to unlock additional security funds. None of these investments supports anti-trafficking prevention, worker protections, or community-based human rights work.

Despite the scale of the event, most host cities still do not even have finalized Human Rights Plans. Several cities—including Boston, Dallas, and Houston—have announced that their plans will not be completed until May 2026, leaving only weeks before the tournament begins. Others, including Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, have released no draft Human Rights Plan at all.

A review of the limited human rights draft plans available shows that host cities continue to focus primarily on sex-trafficking awareness campaigns, despite the lack of evidence linking major sporting events to increases in sex trafficking. Meanwhile, labor trafficking—the only form of trafficking consistently associated with mega-events due to construction, hospitality hiring, subcontracting, and migrant labor—remains largely unaddressed. Further, existing plans rely heavily on law-enforcement-led strategies and public-awareness campaigns rather than worker-protection measures or survivor-centered prevention which have been shown to harm vulnerable communities.

“With no FIFA funding for human rights, unfinished plans, and a focus on the wrong form of trafficking, the United States is on track to host the largest sporting event in the world without the basic infrastructure needed to prevent predictable harms,” said Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative Director Professor Stephanie Richard. “Unless immediate action is taken, workers and vulnerable communities will remain unprotected while security budgets soar and human rights remain unfunded around the World Cup.”

Professor Richard added that this moment represents a profound failure to meet the commitments FIFA made nearly a decade ago. “FIFA adopted a Human Rights Policy in 2017, promising that future tournaments would not repeat past mistakes. Yet here we are—three months before kickoff—with no funding, no finalized plans, and no meaningful protections for the workers and communities who will bear the risks. This is a broken promise, and it is not too late for FIFA to correct course.”

“Leaders in host cities must take concrete steps to prevent human trafficking ahead of these major events. We urge leaders to commit to strategic coordination, investment and proactive steps to protect the most vulnerable members of our community. Host cities will soon welcome incredible talent to their stadiums. This should not come with turning a blind eye to human trafficking. For over fifty years, Bet Tzedek has responded when workers’ rights are violated. We are eager to work with local leaders to prevent these harms before they occur.” Mary Tanagho Ross, Vice President of Programs, Bet Tzedek Legal Services.

“In Santa Clara County- the location for the San Francisco Bay World Cup games, the South Bay Coalition has initiated their own human rights strategy and is working with the Bay Area Host Committee- the liaison for FIFA World Cup, in order to prioritize community safety and support that is local-first, confidential, and accessible. Labor trafficking prevention continues to be a major challenge and initiatives to address it are not adequately resourced. While cities are prioritizing ways to benefit from these games, there is little investment in community safety resources and mitigating potential harms from these events,” said Sharan Dhanoa, Director South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking.

“Across Washington State, we’ve been meeting with local anti-trafficking providers, but there is still no final Human Rights Plan or dedicated funding identified for Seattle. The conversations remain heavily focused on sex trafficking, while labor trafficking—where the risks around major events are highest—continues to be overlooked. Without resources or a clear plan, our state simply does not have the capacity to respond if labor trafficking victims are identified during the World Cup,” highlighted Hao Nguyen, MSW Anti-Human Trafficking Program Manager, API Chaya.

Maya Linstrum-Newman, Human Trafficking and Forced Labour Programme Lead, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) explains “There is no evidence that large sporting events cause an increase in trafficking for forced prostitution. Rather than focusing on "sex-trafficking awareness campaigns," governments should focus on the harder work of protecting the people who actually suffer when a city fills with money and spectators and law enforcement-heavy strategies are imposed. From previous sporting events we know that these people are the migrant and racialised populations, unhoused people, sex workers and other marginalised groups."