26/06/2026
The FIFA World Cup is made possible by the labour of thousands of workers across construction, hospitality, security, logistics, transport, merchandise production, and stadium operations. Yet the workers who build, service, and sustain the tournament are too often absent from public conversations about football, infrastructure, and accountability.
Watch our latest report launch which captures Equidem's new report, which examines the labour rights and occupational health risks associated with the FIFA World Cup 2026, with particular attention to heat exposure among workers involved in tournament-related construction, renovation, and team base camp operations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anxCFBqK-3A
Drawing on worker interviews, occupational health and safety analysis, and heat-risk modelling developed by Equidem in partnership with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the report situates FIFA 2026 within a longer pattern of labour rights risks across FIFA tournament cycles.
The analysis identifies four recurring areas of concern:
🔹 Structural discrimination and worker vulnerability
🔹 Fragmented and unaccountable labour supply chains
🔹 Restrictions on worker voice, freedom of association, and access to remedy
🔹 Exposure to foreseeable workplace harms, including extreme heat
The launch also marks the start of Equidem's FIFA Accountability Project — a long-term initiative examining FIFA's wider labour footprint and the need for enforceable human rights protections across all workers and sectors connected to the tournament — alongside the launch of an interactive FIFA 2026 Heat Risk Observatory, developed with students from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, mapping heat stress risks across World Cup stadiums and team base camps.
🎤 Speakers:
Dr. Shikha Silliman Bhattacharjee — Research, Policy and Innovation, Equidem
Andrea Florence — Executive Director, Sport & Rights Alliance
Nicholas McGeehan — Director and Co-Founder, FairSquare
📘 Read the full report: https://equidem.org/reports/playing-w...
🌡️ Explore the interactive dashboard: https://equidem.org/fifa-2026-heat-risk-observatory-an-interactive-dashboard-mapping-heat-stress-risks-for-the-workers-making-the-world-cup-possible/
The FIFA World Cup is made possible by the labour of thousands of w...
