Developing Human Rights Strategies for Large-Scale Sport Events: An Examination of the United Bid and Planning Phase of the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Abstract

Human rights concerns associated with large-scale sport events have prompted event rights holders to integrate human rights considerations into their bidding and hosting requirements. For instance, bids for events sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (e.g., Men’s World Cup) must devise a human rights strategy that assesses existing and potential human rights risks and proposes measures to address them. However, a lack of comprehensive understanding of how prospective hosts and host cities develop these strategies remains. Therefore, this dissertation examines the formulation of human rights strategies during large-scale sport events’ bidding and planning phases. To achieve this, two separate qualitative case studies were conducted focusing on the bid and planning stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The first paper focuses on the United Bid—a joint bid between Canada, Mexico, and the United States (US) awarded the 2026 FIFA World Cup in 2018. Utilizing strategy formulation and contingency theory, the paper examines factors that shape the development of human rights strategies among prospective hosts of large-scale sport events. Employing a qualitative instrumental case study with archival data and 12 semi-structured interviews, four themes were identified: initial member associations’ decisions, the learning curve, the experience of the bid committee, and stakeholder engagement. Findings identified challenges, including time constraints, the complexity of a multinational bid, and delayed guidelines that shaped the formulation of the human rights strategy. Some challenges stemmed from decisions made by member associations. Others arose from FIFA and the United Bid having to learn to demonstrate their commitment to human rights during the bid process, resulting in delayed guidelines and the conflation of terms that shaped strategy development. The paper underscores the United Bid’s efforts to address these challenges through the dedication and expertise of the bid committee’s staff, consultants, and leadership, along with stakeholder engagement. Despite these efforts, the expedited timeline and the bid’s overall strategy may have hindered city-level engagement. The second paper examines the early planning phase for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and focuses on four US host cities: Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami. This paper examines how these host cities developed human rights objectives. Drawing on social event leverage and sensemaking research, a multiple qualitative instrumental case study was employed consisting of archival data and 12 additional semi-structured interviews. Within-case and cross-case analyses yielded three themes: coordination, stakeholder engagement, and complacency of existing capacities. The findings identified three types of coordinating entities and their roles in shaping human rights objectives in each city. Designating a leader within these entities and involving stakeholders in a structured manner could improve objective development. However, the absence of a coordinating entity and the timing of objective development may have hindered meaningful objective establishment in some cities. Additionally, some cities overemphasized existing capacities, potentially neglecting event-specific human rights risks and opportunities. Overall, this dissertation contributes to large-scale sport event and human rights research. The first paper examines the bid phase, highlighting interconnected factors shaping prospective hosts’ human rights strategies and approaches taken by bid committees to address challenges during strategy formulation. The second paper provides insights into the methods used by host cities to scan, interpret, and subsequently develop human rights objectives during the early planning phase. The dissertation advocates for future research involving longitudinal studies and a broader range of sport events.