World Cup Matches Celebrated in Los Angeles — But the City Still Has No Human Rights Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2026
World Cup Matches Celebrated in Los Angeles — But the City Still Has No Human Rights Plan
Los Angeles — As the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its third week in Los Angeles, the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative (SJI) at Loyola Law School and more than 50 organizations and lived‑experience experts are raising urgent concerns: Los Angeles still has not released a final human rights plan, despite FIFA’s and every host city’s commitment to publish one before the tournament.
On June 28th, the coalition submitted a formal letter to the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission (LASEC), calling for a public agenda item at the next Board meeting to explain how LASEC failed its commitment to produce a final Human Rights Strategy for Los Angeles before the World Cup matches began.
“The World Cup is underway, and Los Angeles still has no human rights plan,” said Professor Stephanie Richard, Director of the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School. A list of laws and hotline numbers is not a plan. It does not reflect Los Angeles’ long‑standing commitment to protect vulnerable communities and uphold human rights. As it stands, there is no plan to protect workers, survivors, or communities — despite clear, evidence‑based data showing increased exploitation and abuse around major sporting events.
Coalition Letter Calls for Transparency and Accountability
The June 26 coalition letter asks LASEC to publicly address four core questions:
- What role LASEC played or should have played in ensuring FIFA met its human rights commitments
- Why the May 1 draft strategy lacked prevention, operational planning, or funding
- How LASEC will address the absence of any labor‑trafficking or worker‑protection strategy
- How LASSEC for future mega‑event contracts will include funded, enforceable human rights planning
“More than 50 organizations — including survivor leaders — have now asked LASEC to explain how this happened and how it will be fixed,” Richard said. “Los Angeles will continue hosting global events. We need real human rights infrastructure, not symbolic documents.”
Helen Stiver, Subject Matter Expert with Lived Experience, added: “The lack of transparency throughout the process, combined with the absence of any prevention or investment commitments, raises serious questions about how LASEC arrived at this outcome and how it intends to fulfill its obligations for future mega‑events.”
LA County Steps In — But Cannot Replace City Obligations
On June 24, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in partnership with the LA County Commission on Human Rights, released a press statement announcing free human rights assistance during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Advocates welcomed the County’s action but emphasized that it came two weeks into the tournament and does not fulfill the City of Los Angeles’ obligations under FIFA’s host‑city requirements.
“County leadership stepped up, but it came late and cannot substitute for the City’s required plan,” said Professor Stephanie Richard, Director of the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School. “LASEC agreed to these obligations. It must meet them. And we should all be asking why a billion‑dollar enterprise like FIFA provides no support for the human rights protections it claims to champion.”
Advocates noted that while the County’s assistance is important, it underscores a deeper problem: Los Angeles entered the World Cup without a prevention strategy, an operational plan, or dedicated resources — leaving County agencies to fill gaps that should never have existed.
National Pattern: Few Plans, No Funding
Four of the eleven U.S. host cities — Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Seattle — have not released any final human rights plan.
The remaining seven cities — Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, New York/New Jersey, and Philadelphia — have released final human rights plans, but advocates warn that most were released at the last minute, in the days immediately before the tournament began, leaving no realistic opportunity to implement prevention strategies, train workers, or establish oversight systems.
Advocates emphasize that a plan released days before kickoff cannot prevent harm. Prevention requires months of preparation, community engagement, worker outreach, and operational coordination — none of which can be meaningfully launched once the tournament is already underway.
Across all eleven host cities, dedicated funding tied to human rights planning is completely absent, with the limited exception of two cities that allocated law‑enforcement‑related funding — not funding for survivor services, worker outreach, legal services, or labor‑trafficking prevention.
“FIFA is a billion‑dollar enterprise. Communities should not be asked to absorb the risk while FIFA absorbs the revenue,” said Professor Stephanie Richard, Director of the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School. “This fact shows FIFA’s failure to take human rights seriously.”
Looking Ahead to the 2028 Olympics-A Pattern Already Repeating Itself
The failures surrounding the 2026 World Cup are already being repeated as Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The LA28 draft Human Rights Plan, released earlier this year, mirrors the same gaps seen in World Cup planning: no funding commitments, no operational detail, and a heavy reliance on existing law enforcement systems rather than prevention, worker protections, or community‑based strategies.
Despite LA28’s commitment to publicly review its draft plan at a council meeting in January of 2026, LA28 did not attend the May 2026 Los Angeles City Council meeting where the plan was scheduled for public discussion — leaving critical questions unanswered and community concerns unaddressed.
The Olympics must be a turning point, yet LA28 is already repeating the same failures we are witnessing during the World Cup. There is no funding, no prevention strategy, and no willingness to show up for public oversight. It is indefensible that a billion‑dollar enterprise continues to offload the cost of human rights protections onto local governments and communities already struggling to meet vulnerable population needs.”
Advocates warn that the failures surrounding the 2026 World Cup must not be repeated as Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Margaret Velazquez, Lived Expert: “Supporting the right to be free from harm and to have sporting events, be trauma informed, and trained.”
Patricia Giggans, Executive Director, Peace Over Violence: “Safety for all — and especially those vulnerable to sexual violence in all its forms — must be planned for at global events. Traffic mitigation is always addressed at big events; sex trafficking and labor trafficking must also be on the strategic‑planning agenda and treated like a public‑health issue.”
Stephanie Sepeda, Executive Director, Project Resilience: “Project Resilience is committed to fostering safe, healthy, and inclusive sporting environments. Through collaboration, prevention, and protection planning, we strive to safeguard the well‑being of all youth, families, and community members at future sporting events.”
Shakeel Syed, Executive Director, South Asian Network: “Human trafficking is a plague that impacts everyone, and a collective response is imperative. South Asian Network stands in unconditional solidarity with victims and survivors and calls on LASEC to review and renew its policies to mitigate and end human trafficking in Los Angeles County.”
Casey Harden, CEO/GS, World YWCA: “A reminder that for our movement, human rights aren’t just a policy on paper: they require actual investment. Right now, the human rights strategy for the upcoming Los Angeles World Cup fails to fund human trafficking prevention.”
Fatima Malik, Vice President, League of Women Voters Los Angeles: “The League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County supports transparency, public accountability, and meaningful public participation in the planning of major public events. Future major sporting event agreements should include clear human rights standards, public reporting mechanisms, and enforceable protections for impacted communities, including workers, survivors, youth, and vulnerable populations. Los Angeles has both an opportunity and a responsibility to ensure that global events are planned with dignity, safety, equity, and accountability at the center.”
Mary Tanagho Ross, Vice President of Legal Program, Bet Zedek, “Respecting human rights during major sporting events should not be up for discussion. Workers are essential in putting on successful events and at the same time are at heightened risk of being exploited and even trafficked for their labor. This is a moment to be on guard and prepared with concrete plans and steps to prevent and address human rights violations.
Press Contacts:
Paloma Bustos, Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative, Loyola Law School
paloma.bustos@lls.edu | Phone: (213) 357-1528
Maria Hernandez, Fair Games mhernandez@unitehere11.org |Phone: (623) 340-8047
Valerie Lizárraga, Jobs to Move America vlizarraga@jobstomoveamerica.org | Phone: (323) 697-2768