Saudi Arabia chosen to host 2034 World Cup, prompting backlash from rights groups

Soccer’s international governing body FIFA confirmed Wednesday the locations for the next two men’s World Cups, announcing Spain, Portugal and Morocco as joint hosts for the 2030 tournament, with games played in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. FIFA also announced Saudi Arabia as the host for the 2034 World Cup. 

The consideration and now announcement of Saudi Arabia as a host has prompted backlash from rights groups due to the country’s human rights record.

“FIFA is willfully blind to the country’s human rights record, setting up a decade of potentially horrific human rights abuses preparing for the 2034 World Cup,” Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement in November.

Saudi Arabia’s human rights record

Rights groups point to evidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, has presided over numerous documented cases of torture, mass executions and forced disappearances. Domestic criticism of the state, even on social media, has been met with imprisonment and torture.

The CIA concluded with “high confidence” that MBS had personally ordered the 2018 assassination and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi diplomatic office in Turkey.

The kingdom has recently made massive investments in global sports, drawing accusations of “sportswashing” — the use of athletes and games to mask repression and authoritarian rule by “laundering” the image of a country.

Concerns over 2034 World Cup

According to Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia’s hosting documents show it plans extensive construction work to prepare for the World Cup, including 11 new and refurbished stadiums, over 185,000 new hotel rooms and the expansion of other infrastructure including airports and roads.

“Saudi Arabia’s massive infrastructure deficit will rest entirely on the backs of migrant workers building it,” Human Rights Watch said in a report, adding that an independent analysis commissioned by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation as part of its FIFA bid was “embarrassingly inadequate.”

Human Rights Watch, along with 10 other rights groups and labor organizations including Amnesty International and Football Supporters Europe, wrote to the law firm that produced the report for the Saudi federation to voice their concerns. Human Rights Watch said there was no meaningful response from the firm.

“Not a single migrant worker, victim of human rights crimes, torture survivor, jailed women’s rights advocate, or Saudi civil society member was consulted for FIFA’s supposedly independent report,” Worden said. “FIFA’s treatment of the Saudi bid is an abysmal failure to implement mandatory human rights risk assessments and protections for the millions of migrant workers who are going to make the 2034 World Cup possible.”