November 4 – News that the human rights report prepared by law firm Clifford Chance for the Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup bid was deliberately limited in its scope, with the agreement of FIFA, has cast a dark shadow over the report’s independence and bias.
On December 11, at an extraordinary online congress, FIFA’s members are expected to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, the only nation in the bidding.
Part of that approval process is the red-hot area of human rights, and preparing an independent human rights report is mandated by the FIFA’s bid regulations. Voting members will be expected to have reviewed and approved that human rights report if they are to vote for Saudi hosting.
The Observer reports that law firm AS&H Clifford Chance agreed to limit the scope of its report after a request from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (Saff), approved by Fifa, restricted the report to human rights that are recognised in Saudi Arabia – rather than those recognised globally and by FIFA – and were considered relevant by the Saudi football federation.
Clifford Chance covers itself in the methodology for the report saying that the scope was “determined by Saff in agreement with Fifa”.
The Observer also notes that it took just six weeks to complete the review and that it relied solely on interviews with government ministries.
No human rights groups or those affected by alleged abuses, such as migrant workers, were consulted.
Clifford Chance has built a significant business in Saudi Arabia and numbers the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and a number of government ministries among its clients.
The report has caused consternation throughout the rest of the Clifford Chance network with the firm having a strong reputation for pro bono and human rights work, and with one of its partner as co-chair of the Business and Human Rights Lawyers Association.
The Observer reports that Clifford Chance staff would normally be consulted with this kind of report were left unaware. According to one Observer source: “It’s created an internal shitstorm.”
Another said: “It’s a shoddy piece of work. It would have been a mistake for anyone credible to take on this task given the parameters were scoped so narrowly. Given the conditions attached, there was no way to do it in an ethical way.”
When the report was released human rights groups warned the law firm of the risk that the firm could be linked to human rights abuses which could result from the tournament.
Eleven rights organisations including, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, wrote that “the assessment contains no substantive discussion of extensive and relevant abuses in Saudi Arabia documented by multiple human rights organisations and UN bodies.”
They accuse Clifford Chance of cherry-picking human rights and findings by UN bodies for the assessment and including no external perspectives, as FIFA and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) determined the scope of the assessment.
“It has been clear for more than a year now that FIFA is determined to remove all potential obstacles to make sure it can hand Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the 2034 World Cup,” said James Lynch, co-director of the FairSquare human rights organisation, in a media release.
“By producing a shockingly poor report, AS&H Clifford Chance, part of one of the world’s largest law firms that makes much of its human rights expertise, has helped to remove a key final stumbling block.”
See: Human rights bodies slam Clifford Chance Saudi 2034 report for ‘cherry-picking’ findings
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