FIFA criticized for unpaid World Cup volunteer roles
Workers Action Centre says 3,000 volunteers are doing jobs that should be paid positions worth thousands in Toronto.
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The Workers Action Centre is calling out FIFA for relying on unpaid volunteer labour during the FIFA World Cup being hosted in Toronto, arguing the sports organization is forcing volunteers to work jobs that should be paid positions.
FIFA reported billions in profits while Toronto committed $380 million to host World Cup matches. Yet the organization recruited approximately 3,000 volunteers to handle roles in transportation, broadcast services, competition management, and hospitality—work the centre argues should generate paid employment.
Volunteers are required to complete 48 hours of service across eight six-hour shifts and wear official uniforms. FIFA does not provide shoes, requiring volunteers to wear black footwear without visible branded logos—a financial barrier for volunteers who must purchase new shoes or cover logos with tape. Workers Action Centre Executive Director Deena Laad said that many of these roles don't qualify as true volunteer positions under Ontario law: "The jobs that volunteers are being asked to do are not volunteer jobs. They're doing jobs that should be paid jobs."
The 48-hour commitment also excludes many soccer fans who work full-time and could volunteer for a single evening. Laad pointed to Toronto's youth unemployment rate—over 16 per cent—as evidence the city needed paid opportunities. "Hospitality jobs, transportation jobs, all kinds of things that should be paid work," she said. "Our governments have allowed it to happen."
