Gianni Infantino wants to present the 2034 World Cup award certificate to the “large and vibrant” crowd in Riyadh. The Saudi minister of sport is on stage to accept said certificate. “Allow me first of all to say thank you for the trust you have given to Saudi Arabia,” he says. “We intend to have an extraordinary World Cup held in our kingdom.”in a statement issued by 21 bodies.
Among those who co-signed the statement were Saudi diaspora human rights organisations, migrant workers’ groups from Nepal and Kenya, international trade unions, fans’ representatives and global human rights organisations.
“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 organisation risks bearing a heavy responsibility for many of the human rights abuses that will follow.”
World Cup for talking, they would be eternal hosts and champions. They’ve collectively gone on for about 45 minutes, or a sixth of the total run-time of their 2030 involvement. And because Fifa’s dubbing stream has disappeared, I don’t really know what they’re saying. They look very pleased, though.World Cup, and at the last minute refused to go in protest?”
My best guess is that they would just be replaced; I think the FA’s decision to support the Saudi bid was made largely because they want England to be able to play in it.
Saudi Arabia, the only bidders, will host the 2034 World Cup. It’s entirely expected, inevitable in fact, but seeing it in writing still feels like a very significant moment.
World Cup – with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay hosting centenary matches to open the tournament.World Cup hosts. Infantino, proud as a peacock, applauds twice to an empty room, and the various delegates do likewise. I’m sure some don’t join in, but we can’t really see in any detail. Anyway, Fifa’s panel of scrutineers are satisfied, having forensically analysed the 201 reactions at incredible speed.
Saudi Arabia mean that another winter tournament is inevitable, while Ramadan runs from November to December in 2024.in this video, even if it doesn’t touch on the human costs of such eye-bogglingly ambitious stadia.
Jonathan Wilson has pointed out, there is something of a paper trail via streaming platform Dazn:
Last week Infantino announced that streaming rights for next summer’s Club World Cup have been bought by Dazn for $1bn, so that every match will be broadcast live and for free. That is a figure industry insiders suggest is significantly higher than the market rate (Fox offered only $10m for the US rights).
Dazn has posted losses of at least £1bn each year since 2019 but recent reports have suggested the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is preparing a $1bn bid for 10% of the company. And so Dazn would become a platform to promote Saudi investment in sport, while also bailing out the Club World Cup, which has been in desperate need of an injection of cash.
Saudi Arabia in 2034.Saudi Arabia eventually emerging as the only bidder.World Cup game in Argentina under a democracy” – referring to the 1978 tournament being held under a brutal military regime.
Pete Pattison and Tom Levitt, have both written extensively and in great detail on the plight of migrant workers in Qatar, and the risks posed by a Saudi World Cup. Here is their latest piece:
Over the past months, a host of human rights groups have raised concerns about the alleged abuse of migrant workers and the risks of awarding the World Cup to Saudi Arabia, with Amnesty International saying, “migrant workers will face exploitation, and many will die”.
Substitute: The case for the external reform of Fifa identifies the serious structural flaws that lead to it making obviously bonkers decisions like giving the World Cup to Saudi Arabia, and simultaneously preclude it from fulfilling its objectives of developing the game.”
And more on that report from Paul MacInnes:
World Cup. There’s the obligatory glossy video presentation, confirming venues in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Asuncion.
The existing plan is for the tournament’s first three games to be played in South America, with the rest in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Of course, hosting the entire centenary tournament in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay would actually have been a good choice; it’s the way two separate World Cup scenarios have been jackknifed together into a carbon-heavy nightmare that’s the problem.
a mountain of corruption questions by talking up ‘inter-planetary competitions’ before the 2014 World Cup.Saudi Arabia (2034). Each delegation will give a short presentation and then votes will be cast.World Cup, than having a World Cup in six countries, on three continents, with 48 teams?” he asks. By having fewer countries, continents and teams involved, I might venture.
On 2034, he adds: “It will be the first World Cup of the new century [of World Cups] and it will be a spectacular one definitely.” After some guff about inclusivity that I won’t bother repeating, it’s time for some brief finance chat.
World Cup last year, and hints at future expansion. He also runs through the World Cup 2026 (“A hundred Super Bowls”) and the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, the first in South America.World Cup. Three million fans in the stands, five billion watching on TV. What an incredible success story that was.” He still finds ways to surprise me, I’ll give him that.
Now Infantino is giving his president’s address. “Football is a unique social phenomenon which is capable of bringing people from all over the world together, in a peaceful, joyful and respectful way. This is unity, and this is football.”
Now, a letter from the Norwegian FA is being read out, “raising concerns about the bidding process … being perceived as not fully aligning with the principles and objectives of Fifa’s governance reforms of 2016.” Norway add they will not join a vote of acclamation. Grafström says that Fifa will go back to the Norwegian FA to discuss their concerns after the Congress. The Swiss FA have also submitted a letter raising similar concerns; both will be included in the minutes.
Saudi Arabia. I will be 69 in 2034 and I do not plan to watch even a single minute.”Kingdom Uncovered, reported that 21,000 workers from Nepal, India and Bangladesh have died since the launch of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme in April 2016. Of the 15 planned venues for 2034, 11 are yet to be built – and one is in Neom, a city that is yet to be built.
the “opaque process” Fifa have taken in awarding the 2034 tournament; the second calls on Gianni Infantino to ensure human rights are protected.
“As one of the world’s most influential sport organisations, Fifa has the power to foster positive change,” said Linda Hofstad Helleland. “Hosting a World Cup is more than an honour; it is a responsibility. It is therefore crucial that Fifa sets clear and enforceable rules for Saudi Arabia, as well as for any other host country.”
World Cup plan, set to be verified today. Why have one host when you can have six?
can be seen here; the process of awarding the 2030 and 2034 World Cups will begin at around 2.25pm (GMT). Gianni Infantino is scheduled to speak after that – will we get another “today I feel disabled” style speech?
Here’s Barney Ronay’s excellent long read on Saudi Arabia and the human cost of building the 2034 World Cup.
Gianni Infantino has both executive control and full knowledge of the possible consequences. This isn’t a hijacking. It is instead a considered and managed process. Let us sponsor the building of your hardline leisure state. Let us take the rewards, nourish ourselves on suffering in plain sight, while pretending to an almost satirical degree that it is all for love of the game, that this one’s for the children.
At which point two things can be said. First, this will stand as surely the most wretched, bloody, damaging act in the history of global organised sport. If not causing death were your starting point, your one non-negotiable, Saudi Arabia wouldn’t even be on the table. And yet Infantino appears to have actively sought this outcome, aligning his Fifa with the world’s most ruthlessly ambitious carbon power; and as a consequence taking choices that will, it can be assumed, cause demonstrable death and suffering.
a quite spectacular quote from Jérôme Valcke, then the Fifa general secretary, in 2013. “I will say something which is crazy – but less democracy is sometimes better for organising a World Cup.”
The World Cup is heading to Saudi Arabia. This afternoon’s virtual Fifa congress in Zürich will officially confirm the 2034 hosts (and those of the multinational 2030 tournament), but this is a done deal. The speed at which a Saudi World Cup has developed from distant fear to total certainty has been breathtaking, and leaves plenty of difficult questions unanswered. For instance, was the decision to host the 2030 event across six countries on three continents – trumpeted as a tribute to the tournament’s centenary – actually a convenient excuse?
With Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay (Conmebol), Spain and Portugal (Uefa) and Morocco (Caf) all sharing hosting rights, it left Asia and Oceania as the only choices for 2034. Fifa then opened the bidding process without warning, and while Saudi Arabia had a glossy document ready to go – packed with dystopian visions of glowing extra-terrestrial arenas – other interested parties had 25 days to get their act together. Australia were the only realistic competition, but soon ran out of time.
Other hurdles were breezily overcome, including a Saudi FA-commissioned human rights assessment, labelled a “whitewash [of] the reality of abuse and discrimination faced by Saudi Arabia’s citizens and residents” by one campaign group, and condemned by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and others. Then there was Fifa’s own report on the Saudi bid, awarding a historically high score of 419.8 out of 500. Both of these assessments failed to tackle the plight of migrant workers, a shadow on the Qatar World Cup that is at risk of being repeated.
Even the most wide-eyed, naive football fans can trace the World Cup’s awkward history as a propaganda tool back to 1934, a century before the Saudi jamboree. Today’s inevitable coronation feels like history repeating, but with the film reel running in ever murkier shades. Will the next 10 years bring much light, clarity or accountability? That feels less certain than ever before.
Source: theguardian.com
