Key takeaways:

• • • The FIFA World Cup is a catalyst, not the root cause — Mexico City’s housing affordability crisis predates the coming tournament. Rental prices have been rising uncontrollably for years, displacing thousands of families annually. The World Cup will accelerate and amplify an already existing problem.

    • The 2024 rental reform is a step in the right direction, but it has significant limitations — Capping rent increases at the annual inflation rate was a necessary measure, but its impact has been limited by grey areas in the law.

    • The real battle is formalization — No housing regulation can be fully effective if a large portion of the market operates outside of it. Until authorities find ways to make formal rental agreements genuinely attractive and accessible for both landlords and tenants.

On the eve of the 23^rd playing of the FIFA World Cup, Mexico stands as one of three host countries for one of the most significant sporting events in the world. It will feature matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, and it will be co-hosted alongside the United States and Canada.

Organizing such an event carries notable financial benefits, including a surge in tourism, job creation, and substantial foreign investment — all of which generate a local economic spillover that strengthens the national marketplace. At the same time, Mexico’s major capitals— especially its World Cup host cities — have been undergoing a level of urban transformation that has significantly altered the daily lives of its residents. Chief among these changes is the sharp rise in rental costs, which has been pushing residents toward the cities’ outskirts. According to government figures, are displaced each year due to the uncontrolled increase in housing prices in Mexico City alone.

Mexican authorities had to get to work

Legal changes to real estate regulation in Mexico City are not isolated, and what is implemented in the capital often sets a precedent for the rest of the country. Time and again, Mexico City has served as a laboratory for new policies, and when these are proven effective, they become models for nationwide reform.

According to government figures, more than 20,000 households are displaced each year due to the uncontrolled increase in housing prices in Mexico City alone.

That said, in August 2024 — after the city’s head of government noted that rentals costs in none of the boroughs of Mexico City fall below the city’s minimum wage, and that 9 out of 13 boroughs average rents that exceeded twice the minimum wage — the Official Gazette of Mexico City published a decree amending Articles 2448-D and 2448-F of the Civil Code for the Federal District, imposing limits on rent increases for residential properties. Previously, the monthly rent increase could not exceed 10% of the agreed-upon rent. That paragraph was amended to establish that rent increases shall never exceed the inflation rate reported by the Bank of Mexico for the previous year.

It is worth noting that the prior 10% cap was nearly three times the general annual inflation rate calculated by the Bank of Mexico in 2025, which stood at 3.69%.

More than a year after these reforms took effect, however, 2025 closed with an average increase in rental prices of . With the FIFA World Cup approaching, prices are expected to continue rising uncontrollably due to the influx of tourists drawn by the event. This concern is well-founded: Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, empowered landlords to raise rents by more than 40%.

Mexico City’s rental reform also introduced additional measures. For example, a digital registry for lease agreements was established, to be immediately authorized and managed by the Government of Mexico City. Landlords now are required to register lease agreements within 30 days of their execution. Furthermore, landlords are prohibited from refusing to rent to tenants on the grounds that they have children or pets.

The registration requirement carries real consequences: Should a landlord fail to register a contract within the stipulated period, their ability to invoke legal protection mechanisms in the event of a dispute with a tenant becomes significantly more complicated.

Regardless of the efforts, it’s not all smooth sailing

That said, the reform contains certain grey areas that limit its scope. For instance, it only applies under specific conditions — most notably when a lease has been in place for three years or more. A landlord can effectively circumvent the cap by choosing not to renew an existing contract and instead requiring the tenant to sign a new one at a higher price.

A separate but equally significant obstacle to the reform’s effectiveness is the rapid growth of short-term rental platforms. In recent years, the proliferation of temporary accommodation services has steadily reduced the supply of traditional long-term rentals, as more properties are listed on platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, or others. Indeed, every 48 hours, three housing units in Mexico City are . And from a national perspective, the Tourism Gross Product reached approximately US $151.5 billion, equivalent to 8.7% of Mexico’s GDP.

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Every 48 hours, three housing units in Mexico City are converted into Airbnb listings.

This problem is further compounded by the scale of informal rental arrangements. According to the National Housing Survey conducted by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), there are more than 200,000 informal rental agreements in Mexico City — none of which involve formal contracts.

Forcing the real estate market into formalization

This brings us to the central challenge facing city authorities with regard to housing: The need to incentivize the formalization of the real estate market. This is already complicated by the country’s low tax culture and the requirement for landlords to enter a specific tax regime that raises their tax burden. Additionally, rental contracts are not only essential for protecting tenants’ rights, but they also are equally important for landlords — because without a legally binding agreement, there is no guarantee that the terms of any arrangement will be honored.

Paradoxically, the recent reform may actually push the informal market further underground. By requiring landlords to formally declare their rental income, the regulation inevitably creates a sense of heightened oversight — one that informal landlords may seek to evade rather than comply with.

To the authorities of Mexico City, the message is clear — punitive measures alone will not bring the informal market into the fold. Tax benefits for landlords who register their contracts, streamlined and accessible digital registration processes, and legal protections that make formal agreements genuinely advantageous for both parties could go a long way toward building trust in the system.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will come and go, of course, but the people of Mexico City will remain. They deserve a housing market that works for them — not one that treats their homes as a commodity to be priced beyond their reach every time the world turns its attention to their city.

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Key insights:

• • • Big sporting events create perfect cover for sex trafficking — The World Cup’s massive crowds, temporary workers, and stretched local infrastructure make it easier for traffickers to blend in and exploit vulnerable people while staying largely out of sight.

    • Money trails and online ads are where traffickers slip up — Trafficking often leaves patterns, such as payments tied to commercial sex ads, round‑dollar peer‑to‑peer transactions, and repeat phone numbers or language across online ads. Banks and investigators can spot these red flags, if they know what to look for.

    • Early, cross‑sector collaboration is what actually makes a difference — The strongest prevention efforts happen before kickoff, when law enforcement, financial institutions, and nonprofits share intelligence, use formal information‑sharing tools, and build trusted local networks to respond quickly and protect victims.

As millions of soccer fans descend upon stadiums across North America for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June and July, perpetrators of human rights crimes also are getting ready to operate in the shadows of host cities. Criminal networks are preparing to exploit the crowds, traffic, and chaos during the event by trafficking vulnerable individuals for commercial sex.

Human traffickers and organized crime groups often exploit major sporting events as opportunities to make quick money because the massive influx of visitors, temporary workers, and strained infrastructure creates perfect conditions for traffickers to operate while being largely undetected. At the same time, the stakeholders involved in countering this illegal activity — including law enforcement, civil society organizations, and financial institutions — stand ready to detect it, disrupt it, and protect vulnerable individuals who are exploited by criminal actors.

Indeed, close coordination and collaboration among these entities in advance of the games is key. To that end, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and �������� are collaborating on a virtual and live event series to support these planning counter-trafficking efforts among stakeholders in several local cities this Spring.

Why major sporting events attract human trafficking activity

Not surprisingly, large crowds draw business opportunities whether they are legitimate or illicit. Collaboration between public and private entities underscore spikes in human trafficking activity. For example, during a recent large sporting event in 2025, �������� Special Services partnered with federal law enforcement and other partners to identify nine adult encounters & services offered, which led to the recovery of two juveniles from sex trafficking and three state arrests

Common industries that involve the exploitation of vulnerable individuals include hospitality, construction, illicit massage businesses, escort services, and adult content production. The chaos of events and large influx of people mask the reality that exploitation is happening and makes detection significantly more challenging during these high-traffic periods.

Human traffickers and organized crime groups often exploit major sporting events as opportunities to make quick money because the massive influx of visitors, temporary workers, and strained infrastructure creates perfect conditions for traffickers to operate while being largely undetected.

Critically, understanding human trafficking as a business model depends on the recruitment of vulnerable people and access to money flows. These aspects of the business are also where detection can occur. Financial institutions and money service businesses can identify suspicious transactions related to human trafficking by understanding and recognizing specific transactional patterns, including payments to commercial sex advertisement websites, round-dollar peer-to-peer transactions, and merchant services linked to illicit massage businesses.

This online footprint left by traffickers proves invaluable for detection. Investigators track advertisements across adult services websites, identifying criminal networks through repeated phone numbers, distinctive emojis, and similar wording that may appear across multiple cities. However, smaller-scale operations present significant challenges as well. When the trafficker is an intimate partner or family member with limited transaction volumes, detection becomes exponentially more difficult without external intelligence.

Collaboration is key for prevention and detection

The most critical element for combating human trafficking at major sporting events is collaboration among anti-trafficking experts and employers of these professionals. Effective prevention requires building strong partnerships before these major events occur. Specific actions that can be taken include:

Establishing multi-sector task forces — The most successful anti-trafficking efforts involve joint task forces that combine federal, state, and local law enforcement with trusted private sector partners and supportive nonprofits or non-government organizations (NGOs) that offer victim services. This toolkit for large scale public events and other anti-trafficking toolkits are excellent resources for local host cities to use to execute these partnerships. These collaborative mechanisms allow different entities to share information in a timely manner.

Leveraging information sharing mechanisms — Financial institutions can use Section 314(b) authority for peer-to-peer information sharing between banks. This allows financial institutions to piece together fragments of suspicious activity that individually might seem insignificant but collectively reveal trafficking networks. Large federal agencies are consumed by multiple priorities and benefit from information sharing through Section 314(a) and assistance from financial sector partners during special operations to act as a force multiplier. Law enforcement also can benefit from detailed Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that contain specific dollar amounts, clear timelines, behavioral observations, and explicit keywords like human trafficking.

Preparing host cities by building networks and outreach in advance — Some World Cup host cities have already established human rights plans with robust collaborative systems within local task forces, government awareness campaigns, QR codes that link to support services, and multidisciplinary safety plans.

In addition, anti-trafficking professionals across all sectors are accessible and willing to help. Resources include national hotlines, such as the , referral directories on website, and the for cases involving minors. The most important step is simply reaching out to establish connections before crises occur.

Preparing for a safer event

The 2026 World Cup presents a pivotal moment to strengthen collaborative efforts against human trafficking across North America’s host cities. By establishing robust information-sharing networks between financial institutions, law enforcement, NGOs, and host communities before the tournament begins, stakeholders can transform heightened awareness into meaningful action that protects vulnerable individuals.

While traffickers will undoubtedly attempt to exploit the inevitable chaos surrounding a major event like the World Cup, a coordinated, multi-sector response grounded in shared intelligence, victim-centered approaches, and proactive preparation can disrupt their operations and ensure that the world’s celebration of soccer doesn’t come at the cost of human dignity and freedom.

You can find out more about��how organizations are trying to fight against human rights crimes here

Key takeaways:

• • • Human trafficking is a financial crime — Without the financial system, human trafficking networks cannot operate at scale. Banks, compliance officers, money transmitters, and casinos are uniquely positioned to detect suspicious patterns.

    • The 2026 World Cup amplifies existing risks — With 5.5 million additional visitors expected in Mexico City alone, criminal networks will exploit the surge in cash flows, new customers, and cross-border movement.

    • Red flags are observable in financial behavior — Human trafficking networks often leave detectable financial footprints, which is why financial institutions must update monitoring systems and stay alert to unusual transaction spikes during the tournament.

MEXICO CITY — As the 2026 FIFA World Cup get ready to hold its tournament in June and July across three North American countries, anti-human trafficking experts are meeting as well and attempting to address the challenges facing the three host countries of the largest World Cup in history.

To that end, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), in partnership with ��������, organized one such event, focused on the scourge of human trafficking that often surrounds large sporting events like the World Cup.

One speaker at the event noted an important clarification in the difference between human trafficking and human smuggling — two terms that are frequently confused yet carry vastly different legal and humanitarian implications. The key distinction lies in consent and the nature of the crime. In human smuggling, the individual being transported across borders consents to the movement, typically driven by socioeconomic necessity, and the offense is considered a crime against the state. Human trafficking, by contrast, is a crime committed directly against the victim, often involving exploitation through force, coercion, threats, or deception, and does not require the crossing of any international border.

The ACAMS event challenged the common belief is that human trafficking is exclusively sexual in nature. In fact, there are 10 additional forms of exploitation beyond sexual abuse, including slavery, forced labor or services, use of minors in criminal activities, forced marriage, servitude, labor exploitation, forced begging, illegal adoption of minors, organ trafficking, and illicit biomedical experimentation on human beings.

As the World Cup approaches, financial institutions’ compliance teams must recognize that the same operational conditions that make major sporting events exciting are precisely the conditions that money launderers and traffickers seek to exploit.

Still, sexual exploitation remains the dominant form of human trafficking. Indeed, it is the second most lucrative illicit business in the world after drug trafficking, with every 15 minutes of sexual abuse of a trafficking victim generating approximately $30.

Of course, without clients, there is no demand, said one speaker from the ÁGAPE Foundation, an organization that works to raise awareness against gender-based violence and human trafficking.

Financial sector as a key line of defense

When identifying human trafficking, it’s wisest to examine it from a financial perspective to find important indicators, according to several speakers. Indeed, the financial sector plays a critical role given its capacity to detect suspicious accounts and payments, shell companies, cash movements, digital platforms, and commercial operations.

For example, when a customer opens an account or conducts a transaction, certain red flags can be visible, including whether the customer needs to consult notes to answer basic questions such as their address or occupation, or that their responses are not spontaneous or natural. Also, another indicator is if the customer’s profile is inconsistent with the type or volume of transactions being conducted.

For financial institutions, there are other patterns that have triggered alerts in illicit activity in the past, including near-immediate deposits and withdrawals with no clear justification for the cash flow, or multiple individuals registered at the same address or linked to the same account.

Similarly, another red flag would be if there’s a high number of accounts opened from the same state or municipality with similar patterns, particularly in areas identified as origin points for trafficking networks; or, payment of multiple short-term rentals or payments abroad to unverifiable recruiters or employment agencies.

Financial institutions should be on the lookout for companies that file no tax returns or invoice simulated transactions, or that use of front men to open accounts or conduct operations.

Also, new businesses whose declared activity does not correspond to their financial operations should be flagged, as well as any frequent, large-volume purchases of condoms, lingerie, or women’s clothing inconsistent with the declared business activity.

Indicators at the 2026 World Cup

In the context of major sporting events such as the World Cup, existing risks are significantly amplified, several speakers pointed out. Sexual tourism, including the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, is a known and serious threat. Indicators that are relevant not only for the financial and banking sectors, but also for the real estate, tourism, transportation, hospitality, and restaurant industries including unusual accommodation requests, such as deactivating security cameras, delivering keys through third parties, or inquiring about the presence of neighboring guests.

When identifying human trafficking, it’s wisest to examine it from a financial perspective to find important indicators, and the financial sector plays a critical role given its capacity to detect suspicious accounts.

These industries should also be on the lookout for any adult or group of adults traveling with an unusually large number of minors, or individuals who travel in silence and are accompanied by someone who appears to exercise visible control over them.

As the World Cup approaches, financial institutions’ compliance teams must recognize that the same operational conditions that make major sporting events exciting — high transaction volumes, new customers, cross-border flows, and institutional attention diverted toward the event itself — are precisely the conditions that money launderers and traffickers seek to exploit.

For these compliance teams, monitoring systems must be updated, know-your-customer processes must go beyond documentation and reflect a genuine understanding of the client’s activity and context, and on-site verification visits must be conducted by personnel who know exactly what they are looking for.

The financial sector does not need to become an investigative body; however, it does need to remain alert, informed, and willing to report. Indeed, this is exactly what the compliance function exists for, and in the context of human trafficking, the cost of silence is measured not in fines or reputational damage, but in human lives.

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Key insights:

• • • Effective human rights due diligence — Human rights can be hardwired into procurement by setting standards that include clear documentation thresholds, a code of conduct that bans forced labor and trafficking, a supplier assessment questionnaire, a locally informed worker safeguards addendum, and a risk-based vendor-grading rubric.

    • Procurement should feature human rights enforceable obligations — Further, human rights can be hardwired into commitments, such as request for proposals, vendor evaluation, and contract clauses.

    • Engaging unions and community groups early can lead to strong execution — Effective implementation relies on early stakeholder structures (unions, community groups, etc.), robust worker grievance mechanisms, and independent interviewers, complemented by AI-driven monitoring and continuous, rapid risk response.

Mega sporting events can have a significant impact on local economies, but they also pose substantial human rights risks, including labor exploitation, forced displacement, and sex trafficking. With the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics coming up next month, and the World Cup in summer, it’s crucial that organizations, communities, and governments prepare now to mitigate any human rights problems with these events.

As an advisor to host cities on human rights with more than a decade of experience now as the chief executive of , I have seen firsthand how the right commitments and responsible contracting practices can help mitigate these risks. By prioritizing human rights and adopting robust contracting practices, the cities that host these mega sporting events can ensure a positive legacy that extends beyond the event itself.

This was a recent topic at an event hosted by �������� and the International Labor Organization as part of its in which representatives from host cities, civil society organizations, and governments came together to discuss best practices to turn commitments around human rights into action during the FIFA World Cup games later this year. As a participant in this event, Henekom shared our approach in translating high‑level human rights commitments into context‑specific safeguards in order to create the social architecture that aligns organizational practice with community needs.

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States.��Check out our Human Rights Crimes resource center to learn how to��stop and prevent human trafficking

Centering human rights by using rigorous contracting standards starts with local jurisdictions working with multidisciplinary stakeholders to embed strong and comprehensive policies and protocols at all stages of event planning. In my experience, an all-inclusive approach typically shares five elements:

1. 1. 1. Clear thresholds in human rights documentation that are designed for speed of business.
      2. Code of conduct with essential ingredients, which include explicit bans on forced labor, trafficking, and other exploitation.
      3. Supplier assessment questionnaire (SAQ) that flags geographic and sector risk, such as temporary labor of food service employees.
      4. Worker safeguards addendum (WSA) that is built from local labor stakeholders who have lived concerns that help to translate the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) into local realities.
      5. Risk-based grading rubric for vendors that weights SAQ and WSA responses and turns them into a contracting risk rating.

In my experience, implementing these policies and tools deeply within the organization means embedding requirements at three critical junctures: i) request for proposals (RFPs); ii) vendor evaluation as part of the selection process; and iii) contract clauses. First, when subject-matter experts draft RFPs, the workflow should force-check human rights and sustainability language (or auto-insert standard clauses). Second, during vendor evaluation, the human rights team grades each SAQ/WSA and assigns a risk-based score. Third, contracts must lock in enforceability with particular emphasis on audit rights, corrective action plans, termination for cause, access to remedy, and accountability mechanisms, such as payment withholding.

Vendor contract agreements between the host cities and primary contractors are the best vehicle to incorporate enforcement of these rights. Likewise, provisions for these rights should also be incorporated into contracts between primary contractors and any subcontractors.

Centering human rights by using rigorous contracting standards starts with local jurisdictions working with multidisciplinary stakeholders to embed strong and comprehensive policies and protocols at all stages of event planning.

Temporary labor at mega sporting events — which include individuals working in private security, souvenir sales, construction, janitorial, and food service — adds complexity but does not have to stifle efforts to honor decent work and other human rights. With a solid sourcing policy, vendors get practical tools and technical assistance to implement requirements quickly.

Common examples include building a checks-and-balances loop with worker centers to receive complaints, and data reporting to track hours, wages, recruitment fees, and grievance outcomes. The risk-based grading rubric for vendors ideally determines the monitoring intensity, frequency of site visits, and reporting cadence.

Effective approaches for implementation

Beyond contract language, the following three actions and tools to help instill accountability in human rights commitments are recommended:

Working with stakeholders from day one — To effectively safeguard human rights, it’s crucial to establish standing stakeholder structures, such as advisory councils and labor roundtables, in order to co-create standards and monitor progress with unions and community groups. By doing so, organizations can ensure workers’ voices are heard, issues are escalated, and commitments are translated into tangible results through collective action and remediation advice.

Centering workers and ensuring access to grievance mechanisms — Establishing on-site, back-of-house centers for workers with confidential and multilingual intake processes, along with clear resolution pathways, is an effective way to drive accountability and reinforce human rights commitments. Using trained, independent worker interviewers with unannounced access to ensure compliance across venues, shifts, and subcontractor tiers further adds to this accountability.

Together, these approaches provide a means for workers to report concerns, verify compliance with policy requirements, and ensure that human rights are respected throughout the supply chain.

Using AI to fortify accountability — AI offers powerful tools for detecting and preventing labor exploitation in supply chains through automated monitoring and pattern recognition. Likewise, natural language processing may be able to analyze hotline transcripts and grievance logs to identify trends.

Even with the best policies and accountability tools, however, risks still persist because operating and business conditions are dynamic. New suppliers are added late, or a hot day turns into potentially harmful working conditions. This makes human rights due diligence a continuous requirement with ongoing risk monitoring, fast incident response, and a humble posture to make it right quickly, transparently, and fairly.

If host cities want a legacy that lasts beyond the mega sporting events’ closing ceremony, it is critical to ensure that the people who made the spectacle possible were seen, protected, paid, and heard. Doing the right thing is strategy — contracts and worker-centered approaches are how it shows up on the ground.

You can find out more about how organizations are trying to fight against human rights crimes here