FIFA has signed a five-year agreement with Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) to promote decent and safe working conditions for all workers involved in the construction and renovation of stadiums and other infrastructure linked to FIFA tournaments.
The agreement was signed by BWI President Per-Olof Sjöö and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström, running until 2030 and establishes a formal structure for cooperation between both organisations.
Under the agreement, BWI will be tasked to conduct joint labour inspections of FIFA World Cup and other FIFA tournament-related worksites, ensuring worker confidentiality and protection from retaliation, in line with International Labour Organization (ILO) Labour Inspection Convention 081 and engage in training and capacity building for workers’ representatives, grievance handling, and occupational health and safety.
Additionally, BWI will ensure corrective action and remedy: when adverse impacts are identified that FIFA will engage with relevant third parties to secure a time-bound corrective action plan, which both organisations will assess and follow up until resolution.
The organization will also publish annual joint summary reports through the Human Rights and Sustainability Sub-Committee at FIFA, which identifies progress, lessons and remaining challenges.
FIFA and BWI have cooperated for more than a decade to address working conditions related to the FIFA World Cup. Their collaboration began over a decade ago and deepened through extensive engagement in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 between BWI, FIFA, and the Qatar-based Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy which was tasked with delivering the proposed tournament venues and host country planning and operations, and where inspections, dialogue, and training initiatives contributed to improved occupational safety, grievance mechanisms, and awareness of labour standards.