The allocation, which had been inevitable since October last year due to a lack of opposing candidates, became final on Wednesday afternoon: Saudi Arabia will organize the Men’s Football World Cup in 2034. This was confirmed during an online meeting of world football association FIFA, led by president Gianni Infantino from its headquarters in Zurich. The decision is considered controversial due to the poor human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
The 2030 World Cup for men has also been definitively allocated to Spain, Morocco and Portugal (and three matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). The designation for both editions was combined and was therefore determined in one go. FIFA had decided that no vote would take place because only one bid had been submitted for both World Cups.
According to FIFA, the candidate host countries met the criteria set for the bid, making the allocation during the conference a formality. The football federation chose to have the allocation of the World Cups accepted by acclamation – for general approval – by the 211 member associations.
In view of the camera
Standing next to the gold trophy for the World Cup winner, Infantino asks the delegates to clap close to their heads, so in clear view of the camera. He demonstrates it for a moment. From Zurich, the FIFA boss can follow it all on a huge screen, on which all representatives of the associations can be seen via video connection.
“If you agree, please give acclamation,” says Infantino, after explaining again that it concerns a confirmation of the allocation of the host countries for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups. He then starts to applaud himself.
Union representatives are visibly clapping enthusiastically on the screens, although it is difficult to determine whether everyone is following. It can be seen that a few people don’t do it.
The two KNVB directors, federation chairman Frank Paauw and secretary general Gijs de Jong, both applaud, a KNVB spokesperson said afterwards when asked. NRC. “It was a subdued applause.” He wants to emphasize that it was “not a vote.”
Only one bid had been submitted for both World Cups, in 2030 and 2034
Infantino finds the digital applause convincing enough. “Beautiful. The voice of Congress is loud and clear,” he reads from a screen. The thumbs up from the FIFA inspectors, in the corner of the room in Zurich.
A little later a woman arrives with a large envelope, which is opened with a grin by the FIFA president. Infantino, who is known to have a close relationship with the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, congratulates his “friends” in the capital Riyadh. „Mabrouk!” he shouts in Arabic. Followed by: “Mabrouk to everyone”.
The meeting started critically, with a letter from the Norwegian association, read out by the Swedish Secretary General of FIFA, Mattias Grafström. The Norwegians disagree with the process surrounding the allocation of the World Cups. The bids, which contain the plans and agreements for the tournament, are, according to association president Lise Klaveness, “defective and not in accordance with the principles of FIFA’s own reforms.”
The Norwegian association had already announced that it would oppose the awarding of the World Cup by acclamation. So no applause. This means that the Norwegians, who were previously critical of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 with, among others, the Dutch Football Association, are virtually alone. According to the KNVB, Saudi Arabia had already received more than 150 declarations of support.
‘A football festival’
Meanwhile, two 13-year-old Saudi youth representatives – a boy and a girl – address the congress in almost flawless English. They invite the world to come to their “beautiful” country. The girl, Sadeen Alyafei, repeatedly talks about Saudi Arabia’s “generosity,” being “kind” and being a “good host.” “We love being hosts,” she says. “Come quickly.”
It should not be a football tournament, but a “football festival”, says the head of the Saudi bid, Hammad Albawalawi. “Singing, dancing, arm in arm,” he says, as images of people partying are shown.
Saudi Arabia wants to become less dependent on oil revenues through the government program ‘Vision 2030’, including by focusing on tourism. This can be heard in the presentation. “We are an easy country to come to and once here, easy to travel around.” Human rights organizations emphasize that it is difficult to enter the country.
Harsh criticism
Hard criticism from human rights organizations follows almost immediately after the allocation. “FIFA’s reckless decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without ensuring proper human rights safeguards are in place will put many lives at risk,” said Steve Cockburn of Amnesty International.
“FIFA knows that workers will be exploited and even killed if there are no fundamental reforms in Saudi Arabia, but it continues despite that,” says Cockburn. “The organization runs the risk of bearing great responsibility for the many human rights violations that will follow.”
The KNVB, which, unlike the World Cup in Qatar, now focuses more on “connection” and “dialogue”, writes in a statement: “We are a football association and would like to participate in major international tournaments, also in countries that are different. than the Netherlands.”
Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman says he looks forward to organizing an “exceptional and unprecedented edition” of the World Cup. He hopes to “bring joy to football fans around the world.”
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The Football World Cup can no longer escape Saudi Arabia and that is a victory for Crown Prince Bin Salman and FIFA boss Infantino