2034 FIFA World Cup: Saudi Arabia will be keen to do one better than Qatar

It’s official now: Saudi Arabia will be the hosts of the 2034 men’s Fifa World Cup. It was a no-brainer for some time with the cash-rich kingdom being the only country in the fray while Spain, Portugal and Morocco are the co-hosts for the 2030 World Cup while Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each host a match each of the edition marking the event’s first centenary.

The aftermath of the announcement is somewhat reminiscent of what followed when the small gulf country of Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup back in 2010. Braving all odds which included a series of ‘exposes’ in the western media of bribery and human rights violations – not to speak of the santions by the regional big brothers Saudi and their gulf allies – the kingdom succeeded in delivering the first-ever winter Cup with a zero crime record.

The rights watch bodies have spoken up – but then, it’s more a matter of rhetoric than effect. Amnesty International called the decision ‘’a moment of great danger’’ for human rights in Saudi Arabia. Football Supporters Europe denounced it as ‘’the day football truly lost its mind,’’ but then, Saudi had been eyeing the ‘greatest show on earth’ ever since Qatar beat them to it in the region. The cash-injection in the Saudi Pro League to usher in global superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema; hosting of the FIFA Club World Cup were but a prelude to it.

Jumping the queue

 Call it an act of ‘Sportswashing’ if you want, but it’s a fascinating study as to how a gulf country has won the rights to play hosts so soon after Qatar in 2022.  When FIFA announced the bidding process for 2030 and 2034 events in October last year, they adopted a so-called principle of confederation rotation to ensure that five of its six confederations - Europe (UEFA), South America (CONMEBOL), Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF) and Oceania (OFC) - would be considered as potential hosts. Concacaf, the North and Central American confederation, was not eligible due to the 2026 Men’s World Cup being already scheduled in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

With Qatar having already hosted in 2022, Asia’s turn would have come at 2042 to host another World Cup under the terms of confederation rotation. However, the FIFA move to stage the 2030 edition across three confederations (UEFA, CAF and CONMEBOL) pushed Oceania and Asia to the front of the queue for 2034.

 Football Australia, which had left the Oceania to be with AFC since 2006, had initially mulled a joint proposal with New Zealand but decided not to press the bid last year. Having announced the bid selection process in October 2023, FIFA gave the potential hosts barely 26 days to formulate a bid proposal. When addressing the 47 AFC members during an online conference, FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino called for Asia ‘’to be united for the 2034 World Cup,’’ prompting senior figures from Asian FAs to swiftly back the Saudi bid. No prizes for guessing that the dye was cast in favour of Saudi then and there.

The term ‘Sportswashing’ will again surface in the context of Saudi being the hosts – but it may not be as vocal as the one in the run-up to Qatar 2022. The reasons are manifold: the axis of power in global football has tilting towards the Arabian world primarily because of its financial clout – with clubs like Manchester City, PSG and now Newcastle United being all bankrolled by owners from that part of the world.

 Saudi Arabia’s involvement in sport, very much a part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 project, has seen the kingdom’s visibility increase manifold in sport in recent years. Saudi Arabian PIF, which bankrolled LIV Golf, are the majority owners of Newcastle while the country now boasts of a F1 pit stop in Jeddah, major world championship boxing fights as well as the biggest pay day in horseracing. What’s more, the mega auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) was held in Jeddah on November 24-25.

 Speaking to Fox Sports in an interview last year, Prince Salman said he was not concerned at accusations if they were using sportswashing to rehabilitate its reputation through sport. ‘’If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we’ll continue doing sportswashing,’’ Bin Salman said. ‘’I don’t care [about the term]. I have 1% growth in GDP from sport and I am aiming for another 1.5%.’’

 It seems a winning formula for Saudi Arabia – even more now with the Fifa World Cup going there in 10 years!