An international federation of labor unions said on Tuesday that FIFA denied it access to the Azteca Stadium to inspect conditions of construction workers doing renovations ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Ambet Yuson, the general secretary of the Building and Wood Workers’ International, said FIFA told them that they did not need inspections because the local workers already have a union and that there have been no incidents so far.
“The World Cup is global, and we must play by global rules and the global labor standards,” Yuson said at a press conference. “The role of an international organization as BWI is to come and to be an independent inspector to see if what they are saying is true or not.”
The Azteca has been temporarily closed for renovations since May 2024 and stadium owner Emilio Azcarraga Jean said recently that they have a plan to reopen sometime this year.
Azcarraga Jean hasn’t fully disclosed what modifications will be made to the Azteca for the World Cup that Mexico hosts alongside Canada and the United States.
The stadium, which opened in 1966, will host five games at the tournament and will become the first to host three World Cup opening matches. It also hosted the first games of the 1970 and the 1986 World Cups.
“Building on past cooperation with FIFA, an agreement for joint inspections in Mexico, US and Canada was negotiated, but FIFA pulled out before signing, blocking independent oversight at dangerous construction sites,” the BWI in a statement.
The Azteca Stadium director, Felix Aguirre, did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
A FIFA spokesperson told The Guardian that the stadium’s renovation “is not managed by FIFA” but that the the governing body “strives to respect and promote the highest international labor standards and seeks to ensure that the rights of workers in the various activities directly related to its operations are upheld.”
FIFA added that in cooperation with the Azteca Stadium, it is “actively engaging with stakeholders and monitoring the conditions offered to the workers.”
BWI claims to have inspected working conditions for the past four men’s World Cups, as well as the past three summer Olympics.
According to the BWI, only 7% of the construction workers in Mexico belong to a union, making them vulnerable to poor conditions and wages.
“In all World Cups, construction workers die and we have not heard that somebody died in a construction site in Mexico,” Yuson said. “Should we wait for someone to die? Or should we do the inspection now so we can prevent a single death?”
