FIFA urged to delay confirmation of controversial World Cup hosts

FIFA is scheduled to confirm Saudi Arabia as the host nation for the 2034 World Cup but has been encouraged to delay the vote due to fears over human rights abuses.

The Gulf state is the only nation with an active bid for the tournament, meaning that its confirmation is a formality at the meeting of FIFA’s 211 member associations on December 11. However a group called Sport & Rights Alliance has called upon FIFA to demand certain safe-guarding pledges before making Saudi’s victory official.

A group of nine campaign groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have produced a report entitled ‘High Stakes Bids: Dangerously Flawed Human Rights Strategies for the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups’. It also asks FIFA to demand a “more credible human-rights strategy’ from the leading candidate for the 2030 World Cup, a joint bid between Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Should Saudi Arabia host the 2034 World Cup?

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar earnt the nation a huge bump in international visibility, helped in no small part by the incredible finale of Lionel Messi’s long-awaited triumph. However the tournament was also marked by genuine, realised concerns about human rights, both of the migrant labourers used to build the required infrastructure and of the minority and LGBTQ fans in attendance.

The Saudi bid for the 2034 tournament included plans to build or renovate 11 stadiums and embark on a huge nation-wide construction projects which include the creation of a new city. With the kingdom expected to use the kafala system - binding migrant workers to their employers - there are real concerns about the conditions for those who will make the tournament possible.

“Fans will face discrimination, residents will be forcibly evicted, migrant workers will face exploitation and many will die,” said Steve Cockburn, head of labour rights and sport for Amnesty International. “FIFA must halt the process until proper human rights protections are in place to avoid worsening an already dire situation.”

The Sport & Rights Alliance have called on FIFA to demand commitments on the rights of workers and the freedoms for supporters before confirming Saudi Arabia as the host nation. FIFA is yet to comment on the report, but did introduce a human rights assessment requirement after opting to hand Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.