At its meeting on Friday, the Presidential Board of the German Football Association (DFB) adopted the DFB Human Rights Policy and the “DFB Position on the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar“. Respect for all internationally recognised human rights had already been included in Article 2 of the DFB statutes at the 2019 Congress. Now the DFB has strengthened its commitment to human rights and created a framework for implementing related processes.

The Human Rights Policy – taking into account the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) and the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP) – features principles and statements on aspects of human rights-related due diligence in the DFB and an annex with concrete thematic proposals for action and implementation.

In its position on Qatar, the DFB explains its appraisal of the process that led to Qatar being awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosting rights. German football’s governing body is convinced that sport can build bridges across political, religious, and cultural boundaries and create the basis for improvement. The DFB’s understanding is that the World Cup can be a driving force for positive development in Qatar.

The human rights policy and the position paper were developed together with numerous stakeholders. These include sports organisations, non-governmental organisations, trade unions, the German government and fan organisations. The dialogue with these experts is to be continued as part of the ongoing effort to obtain and gather points of view and to develop common ideas and approaches.

DFB President Fritz Keller says:
“Just how important it is for us to take a clear stance on human rights became apparent in the reactions to the important activities developed by our national team on the fringes of the first qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. We have now adopted an official position that manifests itself in the human rights policy and the position paper on Qatar. We would like to emphasise once again the central importance of this topic for sport and declare our willingness to stand up for our values, aided by experts and within the scope of our powers and opportunities. Because human rights are non-negotiable and universally valid. That is what we stand for.”

(DFB)