FIFA has officially confirmed Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 2034 FIFA Men’s World Cup, giving the oil-rich kingdom its biggest prize yet for huge spending on global sports led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Saudi offer was the only candidate and was appreciated by more than 200 FIFA member associations. They participated remotely in an online meeting hosted by FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Zurich on Wednesday.
“The congress vote is loud and clear,” said Infantino, who asked officials on a bank of screens to clap their hands at head level to show their support.
The decision coincided with the approval of the only candidate to host the 2030 World Cup. Spain, Portugal and Morocco will co-host the tournament in a project that includes six countries, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay each receiving one match out of 104 matches.
CONMEBOL is celebrating the centenary of Uruguay hosting the World Cup for the first time in 1930.
The decisions complete a murky 15-month bidding process that Infantino helped steer toward Saudi Arabia without a competing candidate, and without taking questions, which human rights groups warn would put the lives of migrant workers at risk.
FIFA and Saudi officials said hosting the 2034 tournament could accelerate change, including more freedoms and rights for women.
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The fast track to victory was paved last year by FIFA’s acceptance of a plan to host three continents for the 2030 World Cup. This means that only the football associations in Asia and Oceania are eligible for the 2034 competition, and FIFA has given them less than four weeks to announce. Only Saudi Arabia has done this.
Saudi Arabia’s win will begin a decade of scrutiny into labor laws and the treatment of workers, most of them from South Asia, needed to help build and upgrade 15 stadiums, as well as hotels and transport networks ahead of the 104-match tournament.
One of the stadiums is planned to be 350 meters above the ground in NEOM – a future city that has not yet emerged – and another stadium named after the Crown Prince is designed to be on top of a 200-metre cliff near Riyadh.
During the candidacy campaign, FIFA agreed to a limited audit of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, which was widely criticized this year at the United Nations.
Saudi and international human rights groups and activists have warned FIFA that it has not learned lessons from Qatar’s much-criticized preparations to host the 2022 World Cup.
An international group of human rights groups said in a statement that FIFA made a “reckless decision” to approve Saudi Arabia without obtaining general guarantees to protect human rights.
“At every stage of the bidding process, FIFA has shown that its commitment to human rights is a sham,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of labor rights and sport.
The Kingdom plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on projects related to the World Cup as part of the Crown Prince’s comprehensive Vision 2030 project, which aims to modernize Saudi society and economy. At its core is spending on sports through the $900 billion sovereign wealth operation, the Public Investment Fund, which it oversees. Critics have described it as a “sportswash” of the kingdom’s reputation.
The prince, known as MBS, has built close working relationships with Infantino since 2017, aligning himself with the organizer of the most-watched sporting event rather than directly confronting the established order as he did with the ruined LIV Golf project.
The result for Saudi Arabia and FIFA was a smooth progression to victory on Wednesday with limited opposition from soccer officials, although some from international players.
The continued flow of Saudi money into international football is expected to increase.
FIFA has created a new, higher category for World Cup sponsors of state oil company Aramco, and Saudi funding is set to secure the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, a pet project for Infantino.
The North American Football Confederation (CONCACAF) signed a multi-year agreement with the Public Investment Fund, Saudi stadiums host Super Cup matches for Italy and Spain, and nearly 50 FIFA member associations have signed business agreements with their Saudi counterparts.
Lavish spending by Saudi clubs owned by the Public Investment Fund in the past two years on buying and paying players – including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane – has led to hundreds of millions of dollars being pumped into European football.
This influence could be key in talks to agree on the months in which the 2034 World Cup will be held. The November-December period Qatar has taken in 2022 to avoid extreme midsummer heat in 2034 is complicated by the holy month of Ramadan until mid-March. December, Riyadh hosts the Asian Multi-Sports Games.
However, January 2034 may be an option – and potentially better for European clubs and leagues – after the IOC said it saw some issues in conflicting with the opening of the Winter Games in Salt Lake City on February 10, 2034. The IOC is also big on business. . An agreement with Saudi Arabia to host the new E-Sports Olympics.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
