Fifa, world football’s governing body, is an organisation that is devoid of anything resembling a moral compass. In its place, the organisation chases money. That is why it comes as no great surprise that Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 World Cup, after Australia – the only other nation considering a bid – withdrew.
In reality, Fifa did everything possible to pave the way for Saudi success. Earlier this month, it unexpectedly announced that the bidding process for the 2034 tournament would take place at the same time as the one for 2030. Fifa’s decision to bring the timetable forward by three years appears to have been made without advance notice.
The sad truth is that no one – well, no one in Fifa at any rate – cares what human rights campaigners think
It gave potential bidders just a few weeks – until yesterday – to express their interest. In an apparent attempt to narrow things down even more, Fifa made clear that only countries from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), to which Saudi Arabia just happens to belong, and Oceania qualified to bid for the 2034 tournament.
Straight after Fifa’s announcement, within minutes in fact, the Saudis confirmed they would be bidding. The AFC president threw his weight behind their bid, claiming to offer support on behalf of the ‘entire Asian football family’. This was despite, at this stage, several other Asian countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, still weighing up possible bids of their own.
A fortnight later, Indonesia and Malaysia fell into line, saying they would now back the Saudi bid. It was only a matter of time before Australia saw the writing on the wall and true enough yesterday on deadline day it too pulled out of the race.
James Johnson, the chief executive of Football Australia, put a brave face on events, in particular Fifa’s curtailed timetable. He said: ‘Ordinarily this decision would have been taken a little bit later so it was a little bit of a surprise that it was going to be an earlier process. But we’re adults and we just try to roll with it…’ Australia has been here before: it spent £26 million and received just one vote in a bid to host the 2022 World Cup tournament, eventually hosted by Qatar.
The bottom line is that the Australians, along with everyone else, believed that Fifa has eyes only for the Saudis. The organisation’s president, Gianni Infantino, has a close relationship with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Human rights campaigners were predictably quick to criticise the idea of Saudi Arabia hosting the World Cup. Human Rights Watch said it showed that Fifa’s supposed commitment to human rights was nothing more than a sham.
The sad truth is that no one – well, no one in Fifa at any rate – cares what human rights campaigners think. After all, it is barely a year since the controversial Qatar World Cup, which took place amidst fierce criticism over corruption and the rights of migrants workers, as well as wider human rights abuses.
A competition held in Saudi Arabia will feature more of the same, and even worse. A month-long global festival of football will be held in a country where criticism of the regime is punishable by death. The Saudis will no doubt make all the usual claims that the tournament is one more step on the road to modernisation, a unifying force in a country with a young population, and that Saudi Arabia is changing rapidly. Some will even buy into this nonsense. It is worth noting that by 2034, Russia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will have ended up hosting football’s premier global tournament in just under two decades – that tells you all you need to know about Fifa.
The mundane practicalities involved in hosting the competition are almost an irrelevance. 2034 is to be a 48-team competition, and the Saudis will have to build new stadiums as well as carry out work on existing grounds. It is likely to be played in the winter, just like the Qatar World Cup in 2022, even though nothing has been confirmed as yet. Everyone will be declared welcome, of course, but only if they follow the draconian rules of the country, so obviously no drinking or public displays of affection. Gay fans take note.
Giving the Saudis the 2034 World Cup is a huge feather in their cap, and until now had been something beyond imagination. The way the process has been handled must raise fresh questions about Fifa’s decision-making, transparency and ultimate accountability. The scrutiny and outrage will only grow.
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