FIFA Pressed On Saudi Arabia From 2034 World Cup Host Candidates

JAKARTA - FIFA was asked to remove Saudi Arabia from its list of 2034 World Cup host candidates by Amnesty International and Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA).

FIFA appointed the 2030 World Cup host candidates, namely Morocco, Spain, and Portugal in October 2023. While Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for the 2034 edition.

SRA said it had evaluated the human rights strategy proposed by the countries participating in the World Cup bid host.

They concluded in a new report that no offer was adequately outlining how they would meet the human rights standards required by FIFA.

SRA said the risk was much greater in Saudi Arabia if it hosted the World Cup because it would lead to gross and widespread human rights violations.

"There will be real and predictable human losses if it gives the 2034 World Cup hosts to Saudi Arabia without obtaining credible reform guarantees," said Steve Cockburn, Head of SRA.

"Frimers will face discrimination. Migrant workers will face exploitation and many will die."

"FIFA must stop the process until proper human rights protection is applied to avoid a worsening situation," Cockburn said again.

FIFA said the bid evaluation reports for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups would be published before the Extraordinary Congress on December 11, 2024.

"FIFA is implementing a comprehensive bidding process for the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups."

"(This) is in line with previous processes for the 2023 Women's World Cup host elections in Australia and New Zealand, the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well as the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil," said a FIFA spokesman.

Hosts of the World Cup will be officially designated at the FIFA Congress. Saudi Arabia will almost certainly succeed because there are no other enthusiasts before the FIFA deadline at the end of last year.

Another thing to worry about is whether LGBTQIA+ people will be discriminated against in Saudi Arabia or not.

LGBTQIA+ people can be sentenced to death if proven to have committed same-sex sexual acts.

Hammad Albalawi, Head of the Saudi Arabian World Cup Nominations Unit, said in September 2024 that LGBTQ+ supporters would be welcome and their privacy would be respected.

This refers to the millions of fans who have traveled to the country for sporting events in recent years.

"We are committed to growing a competition environment free from discrimination."

"We are trying to eradicate discrimination based on protected characteristics," Saudi Arabia said in the World Cup nomination book.

"In collaboration with our government partners, we will verify that our laws are in line with international commitments and implement the necessary improvements," wrote Saudi Arabia again.

Saudi Arabia's candidacy book states 15 stadiums will be built or updated for the 2034 World Cup.

All construction work is set to be completed in 2032. While more than 185,000 additional hotel rooms will be built ahead of the tournament.

Cockburn said Saudi Arabia would need large numbers of migrant workers to realize its ambition to host the 2034 World Cup.

The problem is, Saudi Arabia has not set a minimum wage for non-citizens or implemented steps to prevent the death of workers.

This situation is similar to the death of workers in neighboring Qatar, who hosted the 2022 World Cup and built a new stadium with the help of migrant workers.

The Guardian reports that at least 6,500 migrant workers, of which many of them worked on the World Cup project, have died in Qatar after winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup. However, this number was denied by Qatar.

"We are dedicated to upholding our commitment to forced labor, child labor, non-discrimination, and occupational safety and health."

"We will try hard to ensure our partners enforce these standards," Saudi Arabia said in its bidding book.

The SRA report also says that the suppression of free speech is a cause of concern. Cockburn said there was no serious commitment to reform.

"The Saudi Arabian human rights strategy does not address the Government's severe suppression of freedom of speech and sustainable imprisonment of individuals who have been sentenced to tens of years in prison just because of their expressions," Cockburn said.

Saudi Arabia spent billions of dollars to change its global image of a country known for its strict religious restrictions and human rights violations to a tourism and entertainment center.

However, Saudi Arabia failed to win seats in the United Nations Human Rights Council last month.