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Despite massive criticism, FIFA awards the World Cup to Saudi Arabia. “King” Gianni Infantino leads a cowardly collection of snubs, and the DFB also belongs to this series.
The project is far from complete, but an important milestone has been reached: December 11, 2024 is the day on which Saudi Arabia received the most valuable prize for successful sportswashing available in the world. The Gulf kingdom will host the World Cup in 2034.
That’s still ten years away, and so this time no one can say that the critics should have raised their voices earlier. Because they have. But who in the Kingdom of FIFA listens to criticism outside the football bubble. All warnings, which are not based on hearsay, but on experiences, research and reports from eyewitnesses who were there, were ignored by Gianni Infantino and his followers, if the ruler of football heard them at all.
The work of an even more ruthless president
Awarding the World Cup to a state that beats and beheads human rights is Infantino’s work. That alone should give many associations in the world association FIFA, which is supposedly set up according to democratic principles, something to think about. How could they allow the autocrat Sepp Blatter to be succeeded by an even more unscrupulous president?
On the drip of an oil state
The answer is: intimidation and ensnarement. Ensnarement in the form of money, a lot of money. One of FIFA’s most powerful sponsors is Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy company. He rakes in the billions he has been investing in sport for about a decade by selling fossil fuels.
Documents show that Saudi Arabia recently did everything it could to delay the end of the use of fossil fuels at the world climate conference in Azerbaijan. This accelerates global warming and will most likely lead to a catastrophe for humanity.
Fig leaf
A few days ago, the German Football Association awarded prizes for the “Kick-off for Green” campaign. The notice states: “These projects show that football can have an impact beyond the pitch and be a real source of inspiration for climate protection.”
DFB President Neuendorf obediently nods along
Looking at the big picture, this can be called naive, or rather, brazen. Such actions are fig leaves of a cowardly association that, in the person of President Bernd Neuendorf, a member of the formally powerful FIFA Council, approves of everything that Gianni Infantino and his generous donor states set in motion.
Fundamental opposition brings nothing but isolation, argues the DFB – and many parrot it.
Criticism of Qatar was correct
Some even claim that the association has learned its lessons from Qatar. This implies that the DFB made a mistake when it raised its voice against the much smaller desert state. He may have made technical and communication errors, but he was fundamentally right to criticize Qatar, which, like Saudi Arabia, bans free expression, locks up critical people and punishes homosexual acts. However, in the rankings prepared by human rights organizations, Qatar is better placed than Saudi Arabia, in some cases even significantly.
Jointly responsible for probably many deaths
Relying on dialogue is the right thing to do. But to pretend that dialogue is only possible if the unjust state gets what it wants is wrong. Russia? Qatar? Whistleblowers who exposed how workers were exploited and even died on the construction sites of the World Cup stadiums in Qatar are still in prison today. Anyone who accepts that the drama can now formally begin to repeat itself in Saudi Arabia shares responsibility.