Saudi Arabia will stage the FIFA World Cup in 2034, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has announced.
FIFA also announced that Morocco, Portugal and Spain would co-host the World Cup in 2030, but the decision to award the 2034 rights to Saudi Arabia was immediately condemned by human rights organisations as a “moment of great danger”.
Three centenary celebration matches will also be held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in 2030 under the decision made by all 211 member associations of FIFA, the global governing body for football (soccer), at an extraordinary congress held virtually.
"We are bringing football to more countries and the number of teams has not diluted the quality. It actually enhanced the opportunity," Infantino said about the 2030 World Cup, FIFA World Cup President Infantino said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia, which has a long record of human rights abuses, will become the second nation from the Middle East to host the quadrennial tournament after Qatar in 2022.
Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport Steve Cockburn said FIFA’s “reckless” decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without ensuring adequate human rights protections were in place would 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. The organization risks bearing a heavy responsibility for many of the human rights abuses that will follow,” Cockburn said in a statement.
Among those who co-signed the statement with Amnesty International were Saudi diaspora human rights organisations, migrant workers' groups from Nepal and Kenya, international trade unions, fans' representatives and global human rights organisations.
