Argentina plays Spain in the final game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Sunday.
But the games are not only about sport. Out of scandals that rocked FIFA more than a decade ago, the organization took on the adoption of human rights strategies that would be monitored during and after each World Cup.
Mary Harvey authored the strategies for the joint bid by the U.S., Mexico and Canada for the 2026 tournament. Harvey was the goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National Team in the first Women’s World Cup in 1991. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame last year.
As CEO of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights based in Geneva, Switzerland, Harvey works to raise the visibility of human rights risks and responsibilities in sport. The center engages with large sporting events like the World Cup, and with communities, governments, and sport governing bodies worldwide.
Harvey, who lives in Seattle, spoke with KNKX about her work.
Hear the full interview by clicking ''Listen" above.
Interview Highlights
On getting involved with the World Cup
I became involved in social sustainability and environmental sustainability initiatives, and this led me through my own consultancy to become a contractor on the bid — the united bid process — to write the bid for the 2026 World Cup. And the part that I was asked to contribute to was this brand new set of requirements that FIFA was now requiring on human rights. So for the first time ever, human rights requirements were now being asked of all bidders for the World Cup, and this was all new. This had never been done before, so there was no roadmap.
On the 2026 approach
There's an international human rights standard...and then there's local laws or national laws and practices — what the laws do or don't allow. And I'll give an example of Qatar.
When it comes to international labor laws, and then you look at the national labor laws in a place like Qatar, there's a gap. And the Kafala system — which was legal before they dismantled it because of the World Cup, I might add — that's a clear gap between international standards and local laws or national laws and practice.
The Kafala system was the name used for the labor laws in Qatar and other parts of the Middle East, where it requires employer sponsorship of your your ability to work and live in a country, and that led to abuses like confiscations of passports, recruiter fees they couldn't possibly pay back again. Huge gap between international standards and local laws and practice. So every country — every country — has a gap somewhere. The human rights strategy is how you address the gap, and that's in consultation with people who are affected. That's how you understand this is stuff you need to know, so you can say, "Okay, how do we then fix it?"
Immigrant rights and the games
There were some issues. There was an issue around a player. There was a Somali referee who wasn't allowed in, obviously the Iranian team. You know these are well-documented fans, right? Jordan qualifies for the first time in their history, and yet their fans can't come and sort of follow the team. Although they had fans who are part of the diaspora of Jordanians, Palestinians who live in the United States, Canada, Mexico.
So, in terms of how we've done...I think it's a little too soon to know. I mean, most of the tournament is behind us. And we are seeing increased ICE activity in certain cities. So we've seen that in the last week. I don't know if there has been ICE activity present in or around stadiums, I haven't heard of it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. So far, I think it's gone relatively well, but there are, from a human rights standpoint, some challenges.
Recalling Seattle's matches
FIFA gave me the opportunity to attend a match in Seattle, and despite my credential as a former member of the U.S. Women's National Team, I chose not the U.S. game. I chose the Pride game because I wanted to see it, and I was walking around outside the stadium, and outside the stadium on Occidental Avenue, you had anti-regime protests for Iran with pre-revolutionary flags, which are highly provocative for people in the current regime. You had pro-regime, right? So you had that protest happening. You had Jehovah's Witnesses out there saying Muslims are not the way, and homosexuality isn't the way, so there's a whole Christian advocacy evangelism happening.
Of course, there's always glitter at Pride, and it's all happening in this condensed space. And everything's great. It all works. That's outside the stadium. You go into the stadium and you see rainbow flags, and you see, even though they weren't allowed, you see pre-revolutionary flags from Iran. You see all sorts of things, and everything's fine. And it's a wonderful expression of freedom of expression and tolerance.
