FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. © APA/afp / GIORGIO VIERA

Highly controversial award: 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia

The controversial World Cup in Qatar was not an isolated case. On Wednesday, FIFA announced that the 2034 World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia - a country where human rights are being trampled on.

11 December 2024

From: dpa/det

The 2034 FIFA World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. The congress of the world association FIFA awarded the 2030 finals to Spain, Morocco and Portugal, as well as one opening match each to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The award was made online in a vote for both finals by acclamation. There were no opposing candidates in each case.

During his opening speech, FIFA President Gianni Infantino spoke of an "incredible message of unity" being sent to a world where there is a feeling that there is no longer any unity. "We want to make history now, we want to unite the world with football, through football," said the Swiss.

Clear criticism and the question: Will there be another Winter World Cup?

Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly criticized by human rights organizations in recent months. Human Rights Watch recently wrote of "blatant human rights violations" in the kingdom. FIFA, on the other hand, had only certified the applicant as having a "medium" risk in human rights issues. Saudi Arabia promises far-reaching reforms in its application documents.

The 2034 World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia. © APA/afp / -

It is completely unclear when the games will be played in 2034. Similar to the conditions in neighboring Qatar, which will host the World Cup at the end of 2022, Saudi Arabia is extremely hot during the traditional World Cup months of June and July. Postponing the games to late autumn would cause major problems for the match dates of the leagues and international club competitions. The Olympic Games will be held at the beginning of the year, in February 2034.

Six hosts at the 2030 World Cup

The return to the Gulf region just twelve years after the Qatar World Cup was made possible because FIFA President Gianni Infantino had pushed through the awarding of the 2030 finals to countries on three continents. The opening event will be played in South America because of the 100th anniversary of the World Cup. Spain and Portugal will be the first hosts from the territory of the European Football Union UEFA since Russia in 2018. "The world will stand still and celebrate these 100 years (of the World Cup)," said Infantino.

The World Cup was awarded on Wednesday. © APA/afp / -

Since the upcoming 2026 World Cup will take place in the USA, Mexico and Canada, FIFA regulations only allowed one host from the Asian confederation to host the 2034 tournament. Australia was the only potential opponent of Saudi Arabia to decline to take part - partly because of short application deadlines. This cleared the way for the Kingdom.

After the scandal-ridden double awarding in 2010 to Russia for the 2018 World Cup and Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, FIFA had originally announced that it would forego such a procedure.