Why was the 2034 World Cup awarded to the Asia-Oceania group?
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A mere 12 years after Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup, the stage seems to have been set by FIFA itself to ensure that Saudi Arabia also gets to stage a World Cup.
The process started when FIFA announced the 2030 World Cup hosts. By hosting the first three games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay and then shifting the tournament to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, FIFA essentially ‘gave’ the hosting rights of the World Cup to South America, Europe and Africa in one event itself, and restricting the potential hosts for the 2034 edition to Asia or an Oceania-region country.
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Why the hurry?
Not only did FIFA announce a six-country, three-continent World Cup for 2030, they then set an extremely tight one-month deadline of October 31 for countries to register interest in hosting the next World Cup.
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That one-month deadline would be followed by another one-month deadline – in this case one that would require a bidding agreement which would need government support.
Essentially, FIFA gave Australia two months to get their government to back the hosting of a 48-team World Cup, an improbable task. There were reports that Australia might bid for the event along with Indonesia and Singapore, but a week after those reports, Indonesia backed the Saudi bid, ending any hopes that Australia had.
Curiously, Saudi Arabia announced their plans to bid hours after FIFA’s initial announcement – and they were backed by the Asian Football Confederation. Apart from Asia’s premier footballing body, many countries including India too decided to support the Saudi bid. The All India Football Federation had earlier backed out of a bid to host the AFC Asian Cup in 2027 and instead paved the way for Saudi Arabia to host the tournament.
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Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates with the trophy in front of fans after winning the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP)
Why make it so easy for Saudi Arabia?
Hosting the FIFA World Cup comes under the ambit of an expansive and ambitious strategy from the Saudi Arabian government, one that has made huge investments in different sports and begun attempts to become a de facto giant in the sporting arena. Part of it is aimed at diversifying their economy from oil and gas and become a sustainable economy once their reserves of natural resources are depleted.
Be it LIV Golf, Saudi Pro League, the acquisition of Newcastle United or even how the esports ecosystem has seen a shift towards Riyadh – Saudi Arabia has attempted to start a takeover of sport and been met with little to no challenge. Most of this is due to the money factor. The Saudi state has bankrolled vast sums of money to make these events happen – offering record sums to players from Europe’s top leagues to come to the Saudi Pro League, doing the same with players from the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) to persuade them to join LIV Golf.
What are the potential problems for a Saudi World Cup?
The Saudi state has been accused of sportswashing, a term used to describe a group, or in this case a country, using sport to ‘improve its image against preconceived negative notions that have long followed them.
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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in an interview with Fox News last month, said this on the accusations of sportswashing. “If sportswashing was going to increase my GDP by 1 percent, then I will continue doing sportswashing.” He added, “I don’t care. One percent growth of GDP from sport and I’m aiming for another one-and-a-half percent. Call it whatever you want, we’re going to get that one-and-a-half percent.”
The reason for this being considered an attempt at sportswashing by Saudi Arabia is their human rights record, one which sees women with minimal rights, the practice of systemic executions for a variety of crimes, and the denial of LGBTQ+ rights. In 2018, Saudi agents allegedly killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi for his continuous criticism of the Saudi government – an assassination a US Government Intelligence report directly attributed to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an allegation he denied.
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In fact, Human Rights Watch (a New York-based advocacy and research group) director of global initiatives Minky Worden called on FIFA to delay its process for the 2034 edition.
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“FIFA is failing in its responsibility to the world of football to conduct World Cup bidding and selection procedures in an ethical, transparent, objective, and unbiased way,” Worden said.
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HRW also said that FIFA was breaking its own laws in awarding the World Cup to Saudi Arabia, citing Article 7 which states: “Where the national context risks undermining FIFA’s ability to ensure respect for internationally-recognised human rights, FIFA will constructively engage with the relevant authorities and other stakeholders and make every effort to uphold its international human rights responsibilities”.
(With inputs from agencies)
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