The matches are easy to see. The labor behind them is not. As the World Cup kicks off across North America, worker protections, labor demand, and labor trafficking risk deserve attention beyond the stadium. 

The Hidden Economy of the World Cup

The World Cup is underway in North America. There are 48 teams and 104 matches – the largest in World Cup history – across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. That scale brings more than fans and media attention. It brings a rush of hiring. Hotels need staff. Venues need cleaning crews, guards, drivers, and event staff. Food service ramps up. Transportation systems strain.  

The matches are easy to see. The labor behind them is not. 

The Timeline of Risk

The World Cup is not just a sports story. It is also a labor trafficking story. Labor trafficking risk is not limited to what happens on match day or inside the stadium. It builds before, during, and after a tournament of this scale.  

Before kickoff, pressure shows up in stadium construction, training facilities, transit work, hotel expansion, short-term housing, landscaping, and subcontracted labor. During the event, it moves into stadium operations, crowd management, sanitation, food service, hospitality, transportation, retail, and temporary staffing. Afterward, it shifts again into teardown, cleanup, storage, contract labor, unstable service work, and ongoing maintenance.  

Much of the public talk about major events misses the labor side of the story. Labor trafficking risk grows when demand rises fast, timelines get tight, and layers of contractors and recruiters move workers through jobs that appear fine on paper.  

A recent report from the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School shows that events like the World Cup and the Olympics can significantly raise labor trafficking risk because they bring large infrastructure demands and heavy reliance on temporary labor and service industries.  

The Qatar Warning

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar remains the clearest cautionary tale. In the years leading up to that tournament, labor conditions for migrant workers came under heavy scrutiny because so much of the event depended on construction, infrastructure, and service work.  

The following leading human rights organizations have consistently documented the persecutive conditions in stark detail: 

• Human Rights Watch raised early concerns in 2012 about recruitment fees, passport confiscation, and restricted job mobility as Qatar prepared for the event. 
• In the years that followed, Amnesty International documented wage abuse, long hours, cramped housing, false promises about pay and work, and threats against workers tied to Qatar’s Khalifa International Stadium and the surrounding Aspire Zone. 
• Mission 89 later cited those findings as part of a broader pattern of trafficking and exploitation risk in sports. That pattern is not limited to mega-events. It can also appear across the wider sports economy, including recruitment, training programs, event staffing, security, and supply chains. 

Labor trafficking can be hard to identify because it often starts with something that looks legitimate. A recruiter. A contract. A job offer. A chance to earn more or build a career.  

People often believe they are stepping into a better opportunity. Then weak systems turn that hope against them. Migrant workers can be especially exposed in these situations. Recruitment debt can trap people early. Tied work permits can make it harder to leave. Language barriers can make it difficult to ask for help. Employer-controlled housing, transportation, and documents can tighten that control even more.  

Fear also plays a role. Fear of retaliation. Fear of deportation. Fear of losing the job that was supposed to change everything.     

Where Policy Falls Short 

Labor trafficking risk around the World Cup is not shaped only by individual bad actors. It is also shaped by the rules and protections built into the systems around the event.  

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which is the international body that governs the World Cup, did not make human rights and labor protections a required part of World Cup planning until preparations began for the 2026 tournament. Before that, those commitments were mostly voluntary. This history is one reason labor risk around the tournament still needs close attention.  

For an event this large, worker protections have to reach far beyond the stadium and into the hotels, transit systems, staffing pipelines, service jobs, and contract labor that keep the tournament running. Protections on paper are a good start, but they only matter if they are backed by oversight, follow-through, and accountability.  

The Other Real Tournament

The World Cup is drawing huge public attention. It is also testing whether worker protections can keep pace with labor demand. The matches are not the only facet of the World Cup worth watching – the labor systems that make an event of this magnitude possible deserve our collective attention.  

Keeping labor trafficking top of mind is vital – especially in settings where demand is rising, oversight is uneven, and workers may have few safe options for reporting abuse.  

The World Cup is one example. For every major sporting event, we can and should continue to ask who is doing the work, what protections they have, and what happens when those protections fall short. 

From Awareness to Action

Organizations, service providers, and systems partners can take the following steps before risk grows:  

1. Pay close attention early on to the industries likely to see a worker influx and then prepare staff to recognize warning signs, ask better intake questions, and share worker rights information in multiple languages.  
2. Build referral networks before demand spikes, partner with labor groups, worker centers, unions, and inspectors, and use survivor insight in outreach and awareness work.  
3. Plan for language access, emergency support, and long-term needs, not just immediate crisis response.  

Thank you for reading! Visit the rest of the Framework website to find resources that can support your learning and advocacy. These include a resource library, eLearning, learning cohorts, mentorship, survivor consultation, monthly provider meetings, and individualized training and assistance.     

This was produced by Framework under Grant No. 15POVC-23-GK-00930-HT, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.