FIFA report praises Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup bid

FIFA, the world's governing football body, released a report Saturday on Saudi Arabia's bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia is the only nation seeking to host the tournament in 2034, and one whose de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is chummy with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.  

FIFA's report gave Saudi Arabia high marks, while assessing the kingdom's bid as presenting "low" environmental and "medium" human rights risks.

Late last year, Saudi Arabia submitted its bid to host the 2034 tournament (which was only open to Asia and Oceania nations) — while Morocco, Spain and Portugal submitted a joint bid for 2030, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay also each slated to host one game during the centenary edition of the tournament.

The fate of Saudi Arabia's bid, as well as that of the 2030 hosts, will be known on December 11, when a virtual meeting of FIFA's 211 national football associations takes place.

Saudi bid presents 'strong all-round proposition'

The Saudi bid, according to FIFA, "presents a very strong all-round proposition, reflected in the results of the technical evaluation, which assesses the proposed infrastructure (both sporting and general) as well as its commercial potential." 

FIFA highlighted the "substantial hospitality footprint proposed" by Saudi Arabian organizers as another potential revenue stream.

Despite past evidence, the FIFA report voiced hope the tournament could prompt a turnaround in Saudi Arabia's repressive society, "in terms of human rights, the undertaking involved in implementing the various measures... particularly in certain areas, could involve significant effort and time."

"It is important to note that the bid involves significant opportunities for positive human rights impact," continued FIFA, "There is good potential that the tournament could serve as a catalyst for some of the ongoing and future reforms and contribute to positive human rights outcomes for people in Saudi Arabia and the region that go beyond the scope of the tournament itself."

Saudi Arabia has worked hard to shake negative headlines about its human rights abuses and even its state-sanctioned killing of political rivals, for instance, by investing massive amounts of oil cash into sporting events like Formula One races, tennis tournaments and even a new, professional golf league — in a phenomenon known as "sportswashing."

Despite those investments and much international attention, Saudi society has yet to experience the arrival of a new era of human rights and liberalization.

Amnesty International denounces FIFA report as 'astonishing whitewash'

Human rights organization Amnesty International blasted Saturday's report releasing a statement denouncing it as an "astonishing whitewash."

 "FIFA's evaluation of Saudi Arabia's World Cup is an astonishing whitewash of the country's atrocious human rights record," Amnesty's head of labor rights and sport Steve Cockburn said. "The sports body has decided to ignore the clear evidence of worker exploitation, legalized discrimination and severe repression, and press ahead with a predetermined decision."

"At every stage of the process," continued the statement, "FIFA has ensured that nothing would stand in the way of Saudi Arabia hosting the 2034 World Cup and it has effectively discarded its human rights policies to achieve this end."

Rights groups have regularly highlighted Saudi Arabia's myriad abuses, including mass executionsand allegations of torture, pointing out that free expression, too, is severely restricted — with some people receiving lengthy jail terms over critical social media posts.

js/wd (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)