"World Cup: FIFA Sponsors Should Back an ICE Truce", 11 June 2026

...The FIFA Men’s World Cup corporate partners and sponsors should join calls for an “ICE Truce,” a public commitment from United States federal officials to refrain from immigration enforcement operations at all World Cup events and venues, Human Rights Watch and the Sport & Rights Alliance said today.

In May and June, human rights organizations, fan groups, and unions wrote to 19 companies asking them to urge FIFA and the US government to support an ICE Truce as a first step towards ending abusive detention and deportations practices throughout the US and mitigate risks to fans, workers, and local communities posed by the US government’s immigration policies.

“FIFA’s corporate sponsors together pay billions of dollars because they want to be associated with ‘the beautiful game,’ not the US government’s cruel immigration crackdown,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “World Cup sponsors and partners should call for an ICE Truce as the best way to ensure the tournament is not tarnished by the Trump administration’s abusive immigration policies.”

Six companies replied—Adidas, Coca-Cola, Lenovo, McDonald’s, Unilever, and Visa—describing regular engagement on human rights with FIFA but providing no direct comment on their support for an ICE Truce. The other FIFA sponsors and partners—AB inBev, Aramco, Betano, Bank of America, Doordash, Globant, Hisense, Lays, Hyundai, Mengniu, Qatar Airways, Valvoline, Verizon—did not reply...

All six companies that responded said they had engaged with FIFA over human rights issues at the World Cup. Coca-Cola, for example, stated that they “engage with FIFA through sponsor working calls, contributing to discussions on human rights assessments, due diligence processes, and implementation of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Human Rights Framework.” McDonald’s said that they “routinely and regularly engage with FIFA and relevant stakeholders on human rights risks associated with its tournaments … and share the expectation that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be a safe, inclusive, and respectful experience for all fans, workers, players, and communities”...

Some FIFA partners said that they had limited responsibility for or control over human rights issues at the World Cup. Lenovo, for example, stated that, “Lenovo’s role in connection with FIFA tournaments is that of a technology partner. Matters relating to tournament governance, event operations, security arrangements, government policies, immigration enforcement, and human rights commitments associated with the tournament are the responsibility of FIFA and the relevant host-country authorities.” Adidas said: “As a sponsor, Adidas is neither involved in the selection of FIFA World Cup host countries, nor in determining host country arrangements with governments. These responsibilities sit with FIFA.”

“World Cup sponsors and partners have got their tactics all wrong if they think FIFA on its own will advocate rights-respecting immigration policies with the Trump administration,” said Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance. “Companies have a real opportunity to press FIFA to argue for an ICE Truce and protect fans and workers throughout the tournament”...