Saudi 2034 Selection Raises Eyebrows As Global Footprint Of FIFA World Cup Grows

As expected, FIFA confirmed this week that Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host the 2030 World Cup.

In addition, in view of the centenary of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, there will also be a ceremony in the country’s capital Montevideo, as well as three opening matches being played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

The 2030 World Cup will therefore have an unprecedented format, as it will be held in six countries and on three continents (Africa, Europe and South America). Until now, the World Cup has never been held in more than two countries or on different continents. In 2002, South Korea and Japan held it jointly, while in 2026 it will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Despite FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailing how “In a divided world, FIFA and football are coming together,” the plans have come in for some initial harsh criticism – mainly for the effect the geographical spread will have on the tournament’s carbon footprint.

Concerns have also been raised that, due to a change in hemispheres, some teams will end up having to play the competition in two different meteorological seasons.

As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the infographic below, since 1930, the FIFA Men’s World Cup has been held every four years, with only two interruptions caused by the Second World War, in 1942 and 1946.

You will find more infographics at Statista

The 2034 World Cup will be hosted by Saudi Arabia, a decision that drew its fair share of criticism as well.

By making sure that only federations from Asia and Oceania could bid for the 2034 World Cup and setting a deadline too tight to meet for other applicants, FIFA effectively fast-tracked Saudi Arabia’s hosting ambitions, shortly before announcing a multi-year global partnership with Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant.

In its official “Bid Evaluation Report”, FIFA largely swatted human rights concerns aside, giving the Saudi bid an overall score of 4.2 out of 5 – the highest score ever awarded.

According to the report, the inclusion of human rights within the criteria for evaluating bids is “about making decisions based on evidence of how effectively bidders intend to address human rights risks connected with a tournament. It is not about peremptorily excluding countries based on their general human rights context”.

Reacting to the report, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport, said:

“As expected, FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record. There are no meaningful commitments that will prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being evicted or activists from being arrested.”

As Statista’s chart shows, Saudi Arabia’s “general human rights context” is in fact sub-optimal, as the country routinely ranks near the bottom of international indices on governance and human rights.

You will find more infographics at Statista

So, evidently, the same sport that pride-fully pushes a strong LGBTQ+ agenda seems more than willing to put all that aside when it comes to money, giving World Cups to the explicitly homophobic sharia law theo-monarchy of Saudi Arabia.