3 | Human rights risks and challenges Stakeholders in Australia have identified risks of specific instances of sexual harassment and racial discrimination of athletes, and the treatment of women and LGBTQI+ people on social media in relation to recent global MSEs. Stakeholders in the Aotearoa New Zealand roundtable focusing on LGBTQI+ communities raised the significant amount of media attention (and corresponding abuse) directed at a trans athlete during her competition in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Other stakeholders referred to the online racial abuse directed at members of the English national football team following the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro Cup 2021 final. The large number of children participating as volunteers in the FIFA Commercial Affiliates’ Marketing Rights Delivery Youth Programme also poses risks with respect to ensuring child safety, privacy and wellbeing. Stakeholders highlighted the need to ensure that all those working with children have adequate criminal history and/or Working with Children Checks completed. Additionally, consent must be obtained for the use of images containing children throughout the tournament. (d) Risks for players, coaches and support crew The AHRC received a detailed submission from Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), the players’ association, on behalf of the Matildas players, Australia’s national football team, concerning the 736 players who will take part in the FWWC2023. This submission has been provided directly to FIFA with the permission of the PFA. The PFA raised the importance of athletes being recognised as workers with the attendant rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining and all the other rights that flow from being recognised as workers. The PFA also raised the gender inequity that exists between the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cups, notably with respect to the prize money afforded to each tournament historically, with the Women’s World Cup offering being just 7.5% of the Men’s World Cup. The PFA also raised a number of issues concerning what they referred to as the ‘supply chain of players’, which while having a connection to the tournament, were beyond the scope of this Human Rights Risk Assessment. 24 The PFA argued: As far as the players are concerned, a human rights impact assessment cannot merely focus on the 736 or the one month. It must also address that supply chain, both historically and to ensure that the legacy of the [FWWC2023] is one that converts the learnings of the impact assessment into a system of work in women’s football which does not merely respect the human rights of the players, but genuinely positions football as the sport of choice for girls and women the world over. Opportunities to address these important issues for the human rights of players have been included in section 5 of this report, concerning the human rights legacy opportunities of the FWWC2023. In their submission, the PFA identified human rights risks and impacts on players at two levels: direct and systemic: There are a number of direct human rights risks to and impacts on players: • discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual preference and race; • harassment and abuse, including when children; • denial of the right to freedom of association, organise and collectively bargain, including retribution. This exacerbates the economic and labour discrimination and exploitation that players face including grossly unequal pay for work of equal value and the denial of decent work, including a living wage; • threats to the health, safety and wellbeing of players, such as severe and career ending injury due to unsafe workplaces often not tailored to suit women and girls; • threats to mental health, including psychological distress, addiction and depression; • denial of an education which can impact players both during their careers and especially when they are seeking to transition into post-playing careers; • unjustified restrictions of freedom of expression; and