Saudi Arabia to host 2034 World Cup despite human rights concerns

11 December 2024, 15:52 | Updated: 11 December 2024, 16:31

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, despite a slew of human rights concerns.

Morocco, Portugal and Spain were also successful in their joint bid to host the 2030 competition.

Human rights campaigners have warned many people will die in preparing Saudi Arabia to host, but the Saudi bid - along with a joint Morocco, Portugal and Spain bid for 2030 - received virtually unanimous global support from national associations, including the English FA.

The agreement for South America to host the opening games in 2030 - reached in October last year - paved the way for Saudi Arabia to be sole hosts in 2034.

Read more: FA to support Saudi bid for 2034 World Cup

Saudi Arabia will also host football's 2027 Asian Cup, the 2029 Asian Winter Games and the 2034 Asian Games.

Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia's bid, has dismissed criticism from human rights groups.

"We have come a long way and there's still a long way to go. Our principle is to develop something that is right for us. Our journey started in 2016, not because of the World Cup bid," Mr Albalawi told the Reuters news agency.

"We've launched initiatives granting employees the freedom to move between employers. Documents of these employees are now uploaded into government systems, ensuring they have rights within their contracts."

He added: "I think today what you see in Saudi Arabia is an environment that is family-friendly, safe and secure - something that people can actually enjoy on and off the pitch.

"Our aim and aspiration is to bring more teams and more fans into one place than ever before."

Saudi Arabia confirmed their interest in hosting on the same day the 2030 agreement was made public, with FIFA limiting further expressions of interest to nations from the Asian and Oceania confederations and setting a deadline of less than a month to declare that interest.

Australia, considered the only realistic challenger to Saudi Arabia, confirmed on October 31 last year it would not be bidding.

Saudi Arabia is seen as a key political and strategic ally for Great Britain, a point highlighted by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holding a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in Riyadh earlier this week.

Labour MP Andy Slaughter branded the decision "complete sports washing."

He told PA: "Saudi Arabia has a very poor human rights record particularly in relation to its excessive use of capital punishment.

"It would be wrong for a country with such a poor record on human rights to be rewarded by allowing it to host a major world event.

He added: "It is something which should not be accepted by the international community simply because the country has an unlimited amount of money to spend in investment."