ISC Continues Preparations For World Cup 2026

Members of the Independent Supporters Council Board of Directors were busy in late June and early July in different capacities to help prepare for World Cup 2026. We are excited to implement the best of what we learned while we push for 2026 to be the expectation and not the exception.

Dignity 2026 Coalition - Washington DC - June 25-26, 2024 Katherine Reed, Co-Vice President, met with our Dignity 2026 Coalition for a two-day retreat in Washington, DC. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations hosted our work sessions. In addition to ISC, other Dignity 2026 members present included AFL-CIO, Human Rights Watch, NAACP, Sports + Rights Alliance, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Georgetown Law, New World Foundation, Canadian Labour Congress, and Global Labor Justice.

Our work centered on holding FIFA accountable to the Human Rights Framework that was agreed to in March 2024. We met with multiple departments of the US Government and White House to share information and context for the real, historical issues surrounding the World Cup/human rights and to map strategies for their support. We met with local representatives from some host cities (Toronto, Atlanta, New York/New Jersey, Houston, Seattle, DC) to gauge their understanding, accomplishments, and needs.

We left with a hefty to-do list! Many thanks must go to Teddie Mucha-Duarte (83 United, Tulsa) for her time and talent in creating a much-needed website and Dignity 2026 “home” that will be launched soon. Thank you, Teddie!

One of the biggest takeaways from our retreat was an acknowledgment that there is a massive network of supporters in the country that want WC26 to be the new standard in human rights - the Coalition knows our voices and talents will help shape the success of Dignity 2026.

Euro Cup 2024 - Germany - June 23-July 5, 2024

RJ Montaño, Director of Membership, and Bailey Brown, President, got the opportunity to go to the UEFA 2024 Euro Cup thanks to our friends, Football Supporters Europe. Between June 23 and July 5, we were able to visit five different cities for six different games and observe everything from the Fan Embassy programs, grievance reporting mechanisms, transportation, supporter privileges in the stadium, accessibility, and more to help in anticipation and preparation for World Cup 2026.

The information gathered will be looked over and shared not only with the Council but the Dignity 2026 Coalition as we push in preparation for our hosting in our stadiums. Not only will we be looking to implement informational campaigns for those visiting our host cities, but we will also be looking at how to advocate for a more thorough grievance reporting mechanism than previous World Cups, Our goal is to help our host cities be as ready as possible to welcome people from all over the world.

We want to give a sincere thank you to Football Supporters Europe for helping set up our access to the 2024 Euro Cup and hosting us while we were in Germany. The networking and knowledge gained are invaluable and we are grateful.