Advocates Warn of Heightened Threat to Children During 2026 World Cup

Before the first match ball is ever kicked at the 2026 FIFA World Cup this June, an entirely different set of players is already moving into position. Traffickers — experienced, organized, and acutely aware of how crowds and chaos work to their advantage — are preparing for what experts believe could be an unprecedented influx of vulnerable targets across American host cities. With an estimated 6.5 million visitors expected to pour into host cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico between June 11 and July 19, the scope of the opportunity for criminal networks is difficult to overstate. With just over two months until kickoff, there is growing alarm that neither the sport’s global governing body nor the nation’s cities are anywhere near ready.Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts told reporters that “no stone has been left unturned” to prepare for the seven games scheduled at Gillette Stadium. At the same time, Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune said at a March 12 council hearing that “a lot of these large events — often you have increased human trafficking. You have increased assaults on women.” Captain Detective Terry Thomas of the Boston Police told the same hearing that his department is “anticipating a significant increase” in human trafficking sting operations in the coming weeks. “We have a solid strategy that we’ll address,” Mr. Thomas said. “We’re aware of that. We have the training within the building, and we’re ready for FIFA.”Yet the question hanging over it all: Where is FIFA?FIFA’s blind spot?FIFA, the world’s most powerful soccer body, pledged in 2018 when it awarded hosting rights to the United States, Canada, and Mexico — to “develop and implement child safeguarding protocols.” But the organization still has not published any such policy for the 2026 tournament, which will likely be the largest and most lucrative sporting event in history.A report titled “Keeping the Game Safe,” produced by the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic and the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, maps the risks to children at mega-sporting events and calls on event organizers to put in place mandatory safeguarding training, binding child protection standards, designated trained safeguarding officers at each venue and host city, and a centralized reporting mechanism. Experts contend that none of those things currently exists under FIFA’s framework. Activists underscore that the absence of a child safeguarding policy is unacceptable given the stakes. Risks children face in the context of major sporting events include trafficking, sexual exploitation, child labor, family displacements, and other forms of violence and abuse. The director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, Minky Worden, told The New York Sun that each of the 11 American host cities was required to submit a Human Rights Action Plan under both the 2018 United Bid human rights strategy and a 2024 human rights framework — and that none met the August 2025 deadline. “There are human rights and no action,” Ms. Worden said. Ms. Worden also flagged that what FIFA appears poised to release is a child safeguarding statement rather than a full policy, a meaningful distinction. A statement carries no binding enforcement mechanism, no funding allocation, and no accountability structure. “A child safeguarding statement is not the same thing as a child safeguarding policy,” she continued. “It is weaker.”FIFA pushed back on the central criticism. “FIFA strongly refutes the assertion that no child safeguarding policy is in place for the FIFA World Cup 2026,” a spokesperson told the Sun, saying that safeguarding “is a central pillar” of its World Cup framework, underpinned by a FIFA Safeguarding Policy and a Child Safeguarding Statement approved by the FIFA Council and available on FIFA.com. The spokesperson said the policy is being implemented through dedicated safeguarding managers at each venue, safeguarding focal points in every host city, mandatory training for all volunteers, and a central reporting portal overseeing incident management.On human trafficking, FIFA said the risks are addressed through its Human Rights Framework and a roundtable bringing together public authorities, international organizations, private-sector partners, and survivor representatives. A key focus, the spokesperson said, is “encouraging everyone involved to recognize and report suspicious activity,” with guidance materials currently in development. All host cities, FIFA added, are developing Human Rights Action Plans aligned with United Nations Guiding Principles, to be published ahead of the tournament.In the meantime, host cities have largely been left to build their own frameworks from the ground up. To appreciate the scale of the challenge, consider that during the lead-up to this February’s Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, a regional human trafficking task force spanning 11 Bay Area counties arrested 29 traffickers. It recovered 73 sex trafficking victims, including 10 minors, among them a 12-year-old being trafficked in Oakland.Yet the Super Bowl draws roughly 100,000 visitors to a single city over a long weekend. The World Cup, by contrast, will span 104 matches across 11 American cities over more than five weeks. “If jurisdictions are primarily looking to law enforcement as their safety planning strategy, that is not sustainable,” the director of California’s South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking, Sharan Dhanoa, told the Sun. “My wish list ask would be that FIFA actually invests in the commitment they are expecting others to deliver on,” Ms. Dhanoa said.

Advocates Warn of Heightened Threat to Children During 2026 World Cup

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