Atlanta is entering a pivotal year. In a few short months, the eyes of the world will turn to our city as we host several games for the FIFA Men’s World Cup, the most-watched sporting event on the planet.
A key question is: Will Atlanta host a world-class World Cup that reflects our values?
To do so, we need the FIFA World Cup Atlanta 2026 Host Committee, which includes city leaders and corporations, to match their lofty rhetoric with concrete action that will deliver lasting change.
Jan. 5 saw the inauguration of a new City Council, and the mayor discussed his priority areas, including housing and youth.
The onus will be on the City Council to deliver on these promises. Our coalition — Play Fair ATL — shares many of these priorities and would like to advance them in time for the World Cup.
In December, we launched our policy platform — an affirmative vision for the World Cup that tackles spending, labor, housing, criminal justice, immigration, transit and the environment.
Housing scarcity remains a major challenge
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
One challenge our coalition has faced is in the gap between city leadership’s words on the World Cup and their actions.
For example, the mayor has spoken of his desire to end homelessness. Yet Downtown Rising, a project to eliminate homelessness in the downtown area in advance of the World Cup, does not have enough permanent housing for people who are evicted from encampments downtown, leaving them in a vicious cycle of poverty.
Last year the city finished 246 units short of its goal of 500 units. The governor’s recent announcement may help, but the timing remains unclear.
(Editor’s note: The City of Atlanta responded to this op-ed and reported that as of Dec. 31, 388 of 500 united were built and the remaining 112 will be online by April).
The effects of the World Cup on housing don’t only impact the homeless population. Short-term rent prices are already increasing in neighborhoods in the greater metro area. For residents, especially low-income earners, this means being potentially priced out of their homes and displaced.
One of our coalition allies, Theresa Kinard, a Waffle House worker and member of the Union of Southern Service Workers, was kicked out of her home so that the landlord could renovate and turn it into an Airbnb in time for the World Cup.
“I kept putting in maintenance requests for years and never got any attention or help, but as soon as the World Cup came, suddenly my landlord wanted to cancel the lease and renovate the house,” she said. “I lost my home in November and had to move in with my family. Now my income is up in the air and I’m not sure how I’m going to get my own place again. How are workers like me supposed to keep up with these housing prices on low wages?”
Focus on responsible law enforcement and investment
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
On immigration, Play Fair ATL applauds the Mayor’s comments last week that ICE is not "invited" to Atlanta for the World Cup, but we need to see more concrete action, such as supporting businesses to create ICE-free spaces, establishing clear protocols and protected employee areas at official venues, and reducing low-level arrests that can trigger ICE involvement.
On justice, the city has invested $3 million annually on a diversion center that is woefully underutilized by Atlanta police. We know the World Cup may see an increase in the use of drugs and alcohol by visitors and potential minor fights, so we need a plan so that people do not end up in Fulton County jail, an unconstitutional death trap.
On labor, the Host Committee has refused to adopt a responsible contractor policy to ensure World Cup contractors protect workers’ rights to access fair pay, benefits, the right to form or join a union and that workers are properly classified.
And while it is projected that Atlanta will raise an additional $1 billion through the World Cup, the city has yet to formulate a plan for how this revenue will benefit the people of Atlanta and not be gobbled up by corporations.
The Host Committee and the City Council should step into this void between words and actions and pass legislation that would protect workers, immigrants and low-income communities of color. Our policy platform details exactly how to do that.
Our coalition represents communities who were negatively impacted by the 1996 Olympics through displacement and overpolicing and do not want history to repeat itself. Our people know that Atlanta remains inequitable by many metrics.
The glitz and glamour of mega events stand in sharp contrast to the systemic abandonment and neglect felt by the marginalized. The World Cup seems destined to exacerbate many of these problems, but it does not have to be this way.
It is up to city leadership — from the mayor to City Council members — to embrace a new approach of people not profit and deliver on the promise of a World Cup for all. Actions — not words — are what will determine the legacy of this mega event.
Mariah Parker is a cultural worker, educator, and former county commissioner who serves as the labor co-chair for Atlanta Jobs with Justice and also serves on the steering committee for Play Fair ATL
Dominique Grant is a consultant with the National Black Harm Reduction Coalition and is a member of Play Fair ATL’s policy subcommittee.
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