Saudi Arabia officially announced as the 2034 World Cup host. Human rights groups warn of ‘unimaginable human cost’

(CNN) — Global soccer governing body FIFA has officially announced the hosts for the next two men’s World Cups. However, the outcome was no surprise.

That’s because there was only one bid each for both the 2030 and 2034 tournaments – Spain, Portugal and Morocco have been named joint hosts of the World Cup in six years’ time, whereas Saudi Arabia has been awarded the 2034 edition.

While both bids have come under scrutiny during the bidding process, it’s the latter which has caused the most controversy.

Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), recently warned of an “unimaginable human cost” to hosting arguably the world’s biggest sporting event in Saudi Arabia.

It comes as several human rights groups warn of issues – including the abuse of migrant workers, freedom of speech and the rights of minority groups – in the Gulf nation.

But what is FIFA saying? Why is Saudi Arabia so set on hosting the event? And what, if anything, can be done to make the tournament as safe as possible?

Saudi investment

To understand the issue, one must first see it in a wider context. Saudi’s bid for the World Cup is not a simple one-off, but part of a wider push to invest in sport.

Through its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia has invested billions into changing the landscape of sports, such as golf, boxing, esports and Formula One in recent years.

The nation claims the investment is part of Saudi Vision 2030, a project driven by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy and situate Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s leading countries.

Its focus on soccer, perhaps the world’s most popular sport, has been particularly notable.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has purchased a storied soccer club – English Premier League team Newcastle United – and convinced a host of legends to join the Saudi Pro League – most notably Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar Jr.

In the process, the Saudi crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, has struck up a public friendship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has continued to welcome investment from the Gulf nation in the sport.

Hosting a World Cup, then, is the cherry on the top – the pièce de résistance of the Kingdom’s foray into the sport.

Unsurprisingly, the country has big plans for the tournament. It has committed to significant infrastructure projects, in addition to building or renovating 11 stadiums and 185,000 new hotel rooms.

But, according to human rights groups, the Saudi World Cup in 2034 will come at a cost.

Human rights concerns

A recent report from HRW, titled “Die First, and I’ll Pay You Later,” argues that Saudi Arabia is using the tournament to “wash away its poor human rights reputation.”

The report primarily focuses on the treatment of migrant workers, who HRW says will bear the brunt of building Saudi’s World Cup dream.

Many migrant workers still exist in the “Kafala” sponsorship system, which ties people to a specific employer. HRW said in a June statement that employees are “vulnerable to widespread abuse, including contract substitution, exorbitant recruitment fees, non-payment of wages, confiscation of passports by employers, and forced labor.”

Despite a series of reforms announced by Saudi Arabia in recent years, employers “still hold disproportionate control over workers,” HRW said.

There are also concerns about press freedom, the treatment of LGTBQ+ groups and the rights of women, among others.

In a recent report published by FIFA which evaluated Saudi’s bid, the human rights risk was categorized as “medium.”

The report and designation are based on information provided by AS&H Clifford Chance, a law firm based in Riyadh which was tasked with providing an independent human rights assessment.

In its report, FIFA added that “there is a good potential that hosting the competition could help contribute to positive human rights impacts in the context of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.”

It also noted “considerable work and level of concrete commitment demonstrated by the bid and its key stakeholders, together with the demonstrable rate of progress and the 10-year time horizon are mitigating factors to consider.”

Lina al-Hathloul, Head of Monitoring and Advocacy at ALQST for Human Rights, questioned the assessment’s legitimacy, citing that no independent human rights organization has been able to work in Saudi Arabia, in relation to the bidding process.

Al-Hathloul has experienced first-hand how brutal life in Saudi Arabia can be under MBS’ rule. Her sister was jailed in 2018 for leading a women’s rights group and remains under a travel ban, unable to leave the country. It’s been seven years since al-Hathloul, who has left the country, has seen her family, she says.

“Saudi Arabia is a pure police state, ruled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with no checks and balances,” she told CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies.

“He has arrested people for tweets, the executions have risen to an unprecedented number. This year, a record has been broken in Saudi Arabia’s history – 300 people have been executed.

“Human rights defenders are put behind bars just because they advocate for women’s rights, we have seen an unprecedented level of torture and sexual harassment in prisons. My family is under an illegal travel ban just because they are a family of a women’s rights activist.

“Every country violates human rights, no country is perfect, but I think it’s about red lines. Saudi Arabia, under MBS today, has crossed that red line.”

CNN has reached out to Saudi Arabia for comment.

In its report, Clifford Chance says the assessment was produced in six weeks.

“As a function of this time frame, it is based on desk research and engagement with the Ministries identified,” it said, referring to Saudi’s Human Rights Commission, the Authority of the Care of Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Sports.

“The assessment process did not involve engagement with external stakeholder/ rightsholders. In taking account of published commentary, we have focused on observations by respected monitoring bodies responsible for interpretation and monitoring implementation of the Instruments.”

Human rights groups have also criticized Saudi Arabia and FIFA for not ensuring positive change.

HRW urged FIFA to postpone any announcement that the World Cup would go to Saudi Arabia “until migrant workers’ and women’s rights, press freedom, and other human rights are protected.”

It also called on the governing body to press Saudi Arabia to “engage with human rights stakeholders and allow independent human rights independent monitoring within the country.”

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has also called on FIFA to “halt the process” of awarding Saudi the tournament “unless major human rights reforms are announced.”

In a statement to CNN, FIFA said it is “implementing thorough bidding processes for the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA World Cup, in line with previous processes for the selection of hosts for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil.”

Saudi Arabia has received plenty of criticism for its human rights record before and has previously resisted allegations of “sportswashing,” which involves countries using high-profile sporting events to project a favorable image of their nation worldwide, often to shift attention away from alleged wrongdoing.

In an interview with Fox News that aired in 2023, MBS said he doesn’t “care” about the country’s investments being described as sportswashing, as long as it’s “going to increase my GDP by one percent.”

Earlier this year, though, the head of Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid, Hammad Albalawi, said the country had made strides in terms of human rights in recent years.

“We have come a long way and there’s still a long way to go. Our principle is to develop something that is right for us. Our journey started in 2016, not because of the World Cup bid,” Albalawi told Reuters.

Following Qatar

For many soccer fans around the world, such conversations will feel familiar from previous World Cups in both Russia and Qatar, with both posing issues around human rights.

The closest parallel, perhaps, is with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a nation which also received heavy criticism for its treatment of migrant workers.

Qatar hit back at claims of sportswashing and said it would use the spotlight of the World Cup to help push the country forward.

In 2023, FIFA told CNN it was “undeniable that significant progress has taken place” in the country, and that the tournament was the “catalyst for these reforms.”

However, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labor Rights and Sport, says that FIFA learned the wrong lessons from two years ago.

“My fear is that the lesson they’ve learned from Qatar is that they can ride out the criticism. They can ride it out and prioritize the bigger political and financial goals that they’ve got,” he told CNN’s Davies.

Cockburn added that a tournament such as the World Cup could hold the power to bring about positive change, but only if the intentions are genuinely there to do so.

He, like many others, was pleased that FIFA became the first global sport’s body to include human rights in such a bidding process in 2017 but has been disappointed by how it’s been implemented.

“When (FIFA) is awarding what is the world’s biggest sporting event – the most watched, the most visited – it has a responsibility to make sure it’s not causing adverse impacts to workers, to fans, to activists and to journalists,” he said.

“(FIFA) said that itself, it simply needs to live up to its own commitments and values. It’s not adhering to those standings while it’s pretending that it is. That’s a really harmful façade. We’ve had a predetermined process here.”

He adds: “When it’s a choice between a World Cup in Saudi Arabia, or its human rights policies, it’s chosen a World Cup in Saudi Arabia.”

Al-Hathloul, meanwhile, remains optimistic that things can still change in Saudi Arabia, saying the country’s people deserve to enjoy a World Cup, while conceding that the opportunity has been tarnished by the process.

She says FIFA has been “complicit” in engineering a situation whereby Saudi has faced little competition, and therefore had no incentive, to actually improve human rights.

“In order for change to exist, you have to challenge, you have to question, you have to speak about what is going on in the country,” she said.

“We have 10 years now, we have 10 years to encourage people to speak, we have 10 years to really challenge and question and push for positive change.

“Usually, what happens is that people have accepted Saudi money in exchange for their silence. I do hope in the coming 10 years that things will change, but people have to be braver than this.”

CNN has reached out to FIFA on the above allegations.

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