Several Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), such as Human Rights Watch, Football Supporters Europe and Transparency International Germany (TIG) sent each of the officials in the running for the top job at world football’s governing body a pledge card, detailing six steps which they should take if they win the election, due to take place at the Extraordinary Congress in Zurich on February 26.

These included calling on the new FIFA President to prevent human rights abuses concerning the World Cup Tournaments in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

The build-up to the competition in the Gulf nation has been shrouded in controversy, including allegations of corruption and concerns over the rights of workers at venue construction sights.

A report showed high death toll figures among migrant workers, which claimed as many as 1,200 may have died since 2010.

Eighteen months after that report was published, however, many of its recommendations have yet to be enacted, it is claimed, while it is alleged that "nothing has been done to assess the number of deaths and injuries or the reasons for them".

The NGOs also asked the eventual winner of the race for the Presidency, which has been turned up a notch in recent weeks, “to put in place effective measures to identify, prevent and mitigate the risk of corruption and human rights abuses linked to the World Cup and other FIFA events”.

Tokyo Sexwale was the only one of the five candidates not to respond but the four that did have still come under fire for not accepting the need for an independent advisory panel to oversee measures to tackle problems within FIFA.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein yesterday unveiled a plan to establish a FIFA Oversight Group, which would be led by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, to help repair the reputation of the corruption-plagued governing body should he be elected.

Asian Football Confederation President Shaikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino and Frenchman Jérôme Champagne are also vying for the FIFA Presidency.

Shaikh Salman signed an amended version of the human rights pledge, while Infantino claimed much of what was asked had already been covered in his manifesto.

Champagne agreed to call on the Russian and Qatari authorities to prevent human rights abuses around the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

“The fact that none of the candidates is willing to pledge strong enough action to prevent human rights abuses and corruption linked to big sports events shows what a long way those at the top of FIFA have to go,” Sylvia Schenk, who works for TIG, said.

“The same goes for understanding the importance of consulting in a systematic way with local communities that could be affected by an event, and with groups with expertise on human rights and transparency.

“Let’s be clear; there is no time to waste in taking action to stop human rights abuses linked to the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

“The World Cup should not harm the local population.

“Actions speak louder than words and whoever becomes the next FIFA president must act immediately if they don’t want future events to be marred by human rights abuses and corruption.”