Amnesty International Asks FIFA To Stop Saudi Arabia's Election Process As Host Of The 2034 World Cup Due To Human Rights Issues

FIFA diminta mempertimbangkan pemilihan Arab Saudi sebagai tuan rumah Piala Dunia 2034 (foto: fifa.com)

JAKARTA - Amnesty International and Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA) have urged FIFA to stop the Saudi Arabia election process as the host of the 2034 World Cup, unless major human rights-related reforms (HAM) are announced before the vote next month.

In a new report, the two organizations evaluated the human rights strategy proposed by potential host countries and concluded that there was nothing adequate to meet the human rights standards required by FIFA. They emphasize that the risk of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia is much greater, with possible "wide and serious violations" if the 2034 World Cup is implemented in the country.

"If FIFA gives the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without guarantees of credible reforms, there will be real and predictable humanitarian costs. Fans will face discrimination, migrant workers will be exploited, and many will lose their lives," said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty's Head of Manpower and Sports Rights.

FIFA stated that evaluation reports for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups will be published ahead of the extraordinary FIFA Congress on December 11, 2024, but Saudi Arabia's chances of being selected as host are huge, as no other candidate has made an offer.

One of the main concerns is the potential discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, given Saudi Arabia's law that punishes homosexual acts with the death penalty. However, Saudi Arabia guarantees that they will create an environment free from discrimination for all fans.

In addition, Amnesty also highlighted the issue of migrant workers, in which Saudi Arabia plans to build more than 15 stadiums and 185,000 new hotel rooms for the World Cup, with most of the work to be done by migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation and death due to poor working conditions, as happened in Qatar during the 2022 World Cup.

Amnesty emphasized that FIFA must ensure that significant human rights reforms were carried out before Saudi Arabia could be selected as the host of the 2034 World Cup.