Amnesty warns FIFA over 2026 World Cup human rights risks as ICE set for security role

Amnesty International has urged FIFA and the 2026 World Cup host countries to take “urgent action” to protect fans, players, journalists, workers and local communities, warning the tournament risks becoming a “stage for repression” amid intensified immigration enforcement in the United States.The human rights organisation’s report, Humanity Must Win: Defending Rights, Tackling Repression at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, said FIFA’s promise of a tournament where everyone “feels safe, included and free to exercise their rights” sits in “stark contrast” to current conditions across the co-hosts the US, Canada and Mexico.The men’s World Cup is scheduled to kick off on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, with 104 matches across 16 host cities and the final due to be played at MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey.The US is set to stage 78 matches, giving US federal policy and enforcement practices an outsized influence on the tournament’s operational and reputational risk profile.Amnesty described the US as facing a “human rights emergency” under President Donald Trump, citing mass deportations, arbitrary arrests and “paramilitary-style” Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.The acting director of ICE said last month the agency would be “a key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup”, Amnesty noted, as scrutiny of enforcement tactics grows after the killing of two American citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis in January.Amnesty said none of the published US host city plans addressed how fans or local communities would be protected from ICE operations during the competition period, raising questions for organisers around access, movement and the treatment of visitors.The report also pointed to travel restrictions affecting participating nations. Fans from Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Iran and Senegal face US travel bans, Amnesty said, adding a further layer of complexity for ticketing, tournament operations and supporter engagement.LGBTQI+ safety was flagged as a key concern, with Amnesty citing statements from fan groups in England and across Europe that they will not attend matches in the US, pointing to risks for transgender supporters in particular.Amnesty argued that FIFA’s own event rules can compound these risks, pointing to restrictions on expression linked to stadium policies that limit “political” messaging by fans and players, even as host countries prepare extensive security operations.“This World Cup is very far from the ‘medium risk’ tournament FIFA once judged it to be and urgent efforts are needed to bridge the growing gap between the tournament’s original promise and today’s reality,” the report said.Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s head of economic and social justice, said: “While Fifa generates record revenues from the 2026 World Cup, fans, communities, players, journalists and workers cannot be made to pay the price.“It is these people – not governments, sponsors or Fifa – to whom football belongs and their rights must be at the centre of the tournament.”The warning lands as FIFA is positioned to deliver its biggest-ever commercial cycle, with Amnesty citing projections of US$11bn in revenue for the four-year period ending in 2026, and as the governing body faces renewed pressure from rights groups and sponsors to demonstrate enforceable safeguards rather than high-level commitments.