On Wednesday, the International Football Federation (FIFA) announced the venue for the 2034 World Cup.
Following a virtual meeting with more than 200 representatives of the organisation's member federations, attended by its president Gianni Infantino, it was announced that the competition's headquarters will be Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the only current candidate for the evneot.
The official announcement was the culmination of years of major investment by the kingdom in global sport under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but the decision nonetheless sparked a wave of criticism from human rights groups.
Saudi Arabia is currently facing questions about its labour laws and human rights, with many organisations warning of exploitative labour beliefs that migrant workers, mainly from South Asia, could face in preparation for the competition.
Amnesty International, along with 20 other organisations, called FIFA's decision "reckless". A report by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre noted that a stadium already under construction for the event would be tied to 10-hour shifts in extreme heat conditions.
After the meeting, Infantino said that “the vote of the congress is clear and forceful,” and highlighted the potential of the tournament “for positive social change and unity.”
After the World Cup in Qatar, they are repeating themselves. The World Cup in Qatar was a very controversial one, although mostly behind closed doors, despite the criticism in the Western media and even in the comments of many sports journalists, but the show had to go on. As if that were not enough, it was revealed that the election in Qatar was rigged, Qatar paid bribes to the voting countries and to FIFA leaders. The same thing happened with the World Cup in Russia, and surely the same thing happens in all World Cups, not to mention what has happened with Saudi Arabia, which continues to be a very corrupt country and rather a religious dictatorship with hardly any democratic rights.
The only difference between Qatar and Saudi Arabia is that Qatar is close to Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. and this is perhaps why the communists did not criticise the World Cup as much, although at least the Spanish communists did join in the general criticism during the World Cup, although surely not as much as they criticise the Saudi Arabian regime.
Another example of FIFA corruption. Like Qatar, the Saudis want to improve their image in the West through football and invest millions of dollars to do so.