World Cup 2034: Saudi Arabia human rights report 'flawed'

Last month Saudi Arabia hosted boxing's heavyweight title fight. This month the best male tennis players arrived for the sport's biggest money tournaments. But it is in December that, despite misgivings in the women's game, the sport's emerging superpower will land the biggest one of the lot: the football World Cup.

Football's global governing body, FIFA, are expected to announce the middle eastern kingdom as the host for the 2034 tournament on December 11, with no other bids being considered at this point. But the decision to award the tournament to a country with a poor human rights record has angered advocacy groups.

FIFA attempted to fulfil their stated commitment to human rights by commissioning an independent report on Saudi Arabia by the Saudi arm of London law firm, AS&H Clifford Chance. But its findings have been slammed.

"It has been clear for more than a year now that FIFA are determined to remove all potential obstacles to make sure it can hand Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the 2034 World Cup," said James Lynch, co-director of the FairSquare human rights organization, who have joined 10 other similar organizations in expressing their misgivings.

‘Report removes Saudi stumbling block'

"By producing a shockingly poor report, AS&H Clifford Chance, part of one of the world's largest law firms that makes much of its human rights expertise, has helped to remove a key final stumbling block."

A number of charges have been laid by the various advocacy groups including Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, Middle East Democracy Center and Amnesty International, who branded the report a "whitewash".

These center on three key issues:  that the report failed to analyze human rights issues because Saudi Arabia had not ratified treaties or do not accept them as applicable to Saudi Arabia; that it was selective in using United Nations reports; and that the law firm failed to consult external experts.

FIFA have yet to respond to the claims, but has said in the past that it is "committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights."

Echoes of Qatar in migrant worker death claims

The consternation brings to mind widespread disquiet about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A further reminder came in the form of a British documentary, made by ITV and aired last week, which claimed that 21,000 migrant workers had died in the service of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 project, a plan to modernize the country that leans heavily on promoting and hosting sporting events. Estimates of the number of migrant worker deaths directly related to the Qatar World Cup are often set around 7,000.

While misgivings continue to be aired, most sports federations and athletes seem able to ignore or overcome them. Six of the best men's tennis players in the world played in the Six Kings event earlier in October, an exhibition played outside of the normal ranking system and with a $6 million prize for the winner. All competitors earned a minimum of $1.5 million just for taking part. The figure for winning is almost double the size of any Grand Slam jackpot.

"I don't play for money. It's very simple," winner and world number 1 Jannik Sinner told Eurosport. "Of course it's a nice prize, but I went there because there was possibly the six best players in the world and you can measure yourself with them. It was also a nice event."

Saudi Arabia will also hold a Formula 1 Grand Prix next year, while major boxing events have become commonplace and the breakaway LIV Golf tour continues to pay major prizes and cause major issues for the sport's establishment. Despite the opposition, Saudi Arabia and their ruler, bin Salman, show no signs of being deterred in their plan to put sport at the heart of the kingdom.

Edited by Kyle McKinnon