FIFA on Wednesday confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, underlining the Gulf kingdom's growing influence in world sport despite criticism of the country's human rights record.
At the same time, a virtual Congress of world football's governing body confirmed that Morocco, Spain and Portugal will be joint hosts of the 2030 World Cup, in which three games will also be played in South America.
Saudi Arabia, which was the sole candidate, was rubber-stamped as the 2034 hosts at a virtual FIFA Congress, bringing the World Cup back to the Gulf region just 12 years after Qatar hosted in 2022. The Saudi bid was waved through by acclamation during the meeting of FIFA's 211 national member associations, with no rivals standing in its way.
FIFA had invoked its principle of rotating the World Cup between continents, which meant only bids from Asia or Oceania were welcome for 2034. The unprecedented organisation of the 2030 tournament will involve three continental confederations in Europe, Africa and South America, while the next World Cup in 2026—the first involving 48 teams—will take place across North America.
Controversially, the body gave potential bidders barely a month last year to submit candidacies, and Australia and Indonesia quickly abandoned their interest. That left Saudi Arabia as the sole candidate, clearing the way for the World Cup to return to the Gulf region so soon after Qatar hosted in 2022.
The kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been using sport for some time to amass influence and improve its global image -- critics, though, say he is effectively "sportswashing" by diverting attention from Saudi Arabia's rights record.
Rights groups flay decision
The decision to award the world cup to Saudi Arabia puts the lives of construction workers at risk and "marks a moment of great danger", Amnesty International and 20 other organisations warned on Wednesday.
Awarding the tournament to Saudi Arabia "despite the well-known and severe risks to residents, migrant workers and visiting fans alike, marks a moment of great danger," Amnesty and organisations including Human Rights Watch, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights and the Football Supporters Europe group said in a statement.
"As global and regional human rights organisations, trade unions, fans groups and organisations representing migrant workers, many of us have long highlighted the severe risks posed by Saudi Arabia’s hosting of mega-sporting events," the groups said.
"By awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without meaningful protections, FIFA has today decided both to ignore our warnings and discard its own human rights policies."
- 'Weak human rights' -
FIFA's own evaluation report, released last month, considered Saudi's bid to be "medium risk" for human rights, adding that implementing reforms could take "significant effort and time".
Rights groups have long highlighted mass executions in Saudi Arabia and allegations of torture, as well as restrictions on women under the conservative country's male guardianship system.
Free expression is severely restricted, with some people handed lengthy jail terms over critical posts on social media.
"FIFA can never claim that it did not know the severity of the risks of hosting its flagship event in a country with such weak human rights protections," said the statement.
"Nor can the national Football Associations voting to approve it.
"It is evident that without urgent action and comprehensive reforms, the 2034 World Cup will be tarnished by repression, discrimination and exploitation on a massive scale."
Saudi Arabia, which now hosts several high-profile events including Formula One, heavyweight boxing and tennis' WTA Finals, is often accused of "sportswashing" -- using sport to divert attention from its rights record.
Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's Head of Labour Rights and Sport, said the decision to award the World Cup to Saudi Arabia "without ensuring adequate human rights protections are in place" will put many lives at risk.
"Based on clear evidence to date, FIFA knows workers will be exploited and even die without fundamental reforms in Saudi Arabia, and yet has chosen to press ahead regardless," he said.
"The organisation risks bearing a heavy responsibility for many of the human rights abuses that will follow.
“At every stage of this bidding process, FIFA has shown its commitment to human rights to be a sham."
The organisations said they would mobilise over the coming decade to ensure the "violations and abuses of this World Cup" are not ignored.
"FIFA must urgently change course and ensure that the World Cup is accompanied by wide-ranging reforms in Saudi Arabia, or risk a decade of exploitation, discrimination and repression connected to its flagship tournament," said Cockburn.