FIFA has just confirmed Saudi Arabia as the host of the men’s football World Cup in 2034, the biggest sportswashing success achieved to date by this theocratic monarchy in the Persian Gulf. The Saudi kingdom, the world’s second-largest oil producer after the United States, has been working for some years now to sanitise its murky human rights record with major sporting events, such as the Dakar Rally, held entirely on its territory every year since 2020, and an avalanche of sports-related deals, with 910 signed worldwide in 2024 alone. Now, following an election process in which it was the only candidate, and a somewhat controversial vote, Riyadh has managed to win itself the confidence of international football to single-handedly host the World Cup, one of the greatest sporting showcases on the planet.

• If it has the votes and the money for a World Cup, what’s the problem?

Regarding the votes, FIFA organised the final decision in such a way that its 211 national federations voted at the same time, with a single “yes” or “no” vote, on the awarding of the World Cups in 2030 (to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with matches in honour of the centenary of the competition in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) and in 2034 (to Saudi Arabia). This arrangement seems to have been designed to dilute any potential opposition to Riyadh’s solo bid.

And then, the real problem is the human rights record, the labour conditions and the limited civil liberties of an autocratic regime with a very poor reputation in these fields.

• What human rights violations do Saudi Arabia commit that raise doubts as to whether it should host a World Cup?

The Saudi kingdom represses political dissent, discriminates against and subjugates women, criminalises the LGBTIQ+ community and is the third largest country in terms of recorded death penalty executions, with more than 200 in 2024. It also systematically restricts freedom of expression, uses new technologies to spy on and silence activists, opponents and journalists, and has forcibly expropriated land for potential World Cup venues.

• And on the labour front, anything to worry about?

Saudi Arabia prohibits unionisation and strikes. According to the Global Rights Index of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Saudi Arabia is one of the 13 countries that have worsened their ranking in 2024 (scoring 5, on an index ranging from 1, the best, to 5+, the worst).

For migrant workers (concentrated in construction, care and services), it still uses the kafala or sponsorship system that gives employers abusive authority over their legal status, including custody of their passports and the final say over their pay and whether or not they can leave their job, exposing millions of migrant workers to the risk of exploitation, wage theft or even forced labour. The kafala system nonetheless posed no problem for FIFA when it came to entrusting the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where it was also in force.

The system applies to four out of every five employees in Saudi Arabia’s private sector. “There is near certainty that a World Cup hosted in Saudi Arabia will be stained by abuses,” says Human Rights Watch. ITUC-Africa agrees, insisting that the country’s “treatment of migrant workers encourages whimsical and egregious human and labour rights violations”.

• How did FIFA assist in the election of Saudi Arabia as World Cup hosts?

In addition to combining the 2030 and 2034 tournaments in a single ballot, the FIFA Council had already announced in October 2023 that, after confirming the sole candidacy for the 2030 World Cup, the 2034 competition would be chosen by rotation between continental confederations: only countries from Asia or Oceania would be eligible, with a 25-day window to apply. Just 81 minutes later, Saudi Arabia had formally expressed its intent to bid. Its only potential rival, Australia, decided to opt for other international tournaments. A couple of weeks ago, Riyadh’s bid was rated with the highest score in FIFA’s history.

• How could FIFA have made its decision in a more ethical fashion?

“There is no greater test of FIFA’s commitment to its human rights policies than how it awards, prepares and delivers its flagship tournament,” highlights a report by the Sports & Rights Alliance (SRA), formed by associations and organisations working to defend human rights, including the ITUC. The report points out that FIFA and its national federations should ensure a “rigorous and transparent” bidding process, “binding commitments, including legal reforms, to prevent human rights violations connected to the tournament” before finalising a decision, and should have reserved the right to cancel the tournament at any chosen venue in the event of non-compliance.

Learn more here:

–  Check out the report by the SRA and Amnesty International on what FIFA could do to ensure the protection of human rights

–  Read the Evaluation Report on Saudi Arabia’s bid for 2034, in which FIFA addresses the issue of human rights. And one more report from the FIFA family, in response to a request by the Norwegian Football Federation, on compensation and recognition of the impact on migrant workers (during the preparation of the World Cup in Qatar, where thousands of migrant workers died in abusive, sometimes extreme, working conditions).

–  Learn more about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia from this Human Rights Watch report

–  [News: 21,000 workers reportedly died and 100,000 disappeared in the construction of The Line, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic megacity project; meanwhile, in 2022 we reported on the execution, expulsion, forced disappearance and harassment of those who inhabit the land on which the megaproject is being built.