Read the initial assessment issued by the Swiss NCP – 13 October 2015

In May 2015, the Swiss NCP received a request for review from Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) regarding alleged human rights violations of migrant workers of the Guidelines by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) related to the construction of facilities for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The submitting party stated that the responding party had violated the OECD Guidelines by appointing Qatar as the host state for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar in 2010. According to the submitting party, at this time the human rights violations of migrant workers in Qatar were widely documented. While FIFA’s Bidding Agreement for the FIFA 2022 World Cup required Qatar to provide information under twenty different chapters, including “Sustainable Social and Human Development”, there was no requirement to address human or labour rights.

The submitting party further stated that after appointing Qatar as the host state, the responding party failed to conduct adequate and ongoing human rights due diligence as called for in the updated OECD Guidelines which entered into force in 2011. In the view of the submitting party, the responding party should have taken adequate and ongoing steps to identify, prevent and mitigate actual and potential adverse human rights impacts.

On 27 July 2015, the responding party submitted a written statement to the Swiss NCP concerning the issues raised in this specific instance.

The initial assessment of the Swiss NCP results in the conclusion that the issues raised in this submission merit further consideration, and the Swiss NCP therefore accepts the specific instance. This conclusion should not be construed as a judgment of whether or not the corporate behaviour or actions in question were consistent with observance of the OECD Guidelines and should not be equated with a determination on the merits of the issues raised in the submission.  The Swiss NCP will contact the parties in order to offer its good offices and ask for confirmation whether they are willing to accept this offer with the aim of reaching a mutually acceptable outcome.