Two months before FIFA is set to confirm Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host, the soccer body was urged again Friday to allow independent scrutiny of the kingdom’s human rights obligations for the tournament. A group of law and human rights experts plus Saudi activists abroad want FIFA to mandate ongoing reviews — and a potential termination clause — into the 2034 World Cup hosting contract.
The advisers who came to Zurich on Friday want FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is closely tied to Saudi political and soccer leaders, to learn from how Qatar was picked to host the 2022 World Cup. Saudi Arabia, like Qatar, is a traditionally conservative society and needs a huge construction project relying on migrant workers to build stadiums and other infrastructure for global soccer's biggest event.
World Cup hosting contracts will be signed after the Dec. 11 decision by more than 200 FIFA member federations at an online meeting. Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for 2034. Promising not to be confrontational with FIFA, the group said: “We are not naive. It is not FIFA’s role to change the world. They are not the UN.”
The briefing in FIFA’s home city came two days after the UN General Assembly in New York rejected a Saudi bid to get a seat on the 47-nation Human Rights Council for the next three years. The would-be FIFA advisers cited Saudi Arabia's record on freedom of speech and assembly, and laws on labor and male guardianship that limit women's freedoms.
In May, FIFA got an offer from the law and human rights experts to create an independent process for monitoring progress in Saudi Arabia. Swiss law professor Mark Pieth, an anti-corruption advisor to FIFA from 2011-14, said they had been ignored and “we are here in Zurich to try again.”
Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea said Friday it documented “grave labor violations” against migrant workers who number more than 13 million, or about 40% of the kingdom’s population. Saudi soccer officials have consistently said the kingdom is making progress on social reforms as part of the Vision 2030 drive by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to modernize and create a post-oil economy.
FIFA is evaluating World Cup bidders with reports likely in early December. It also must assess the human rights strategy of the sole candidate for the 2030 World Cup: co-hosts Spain, Portugal and Morocco with single games in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. FIFA and Infantino have not held a news conference to take any questions on World Cup bids since the 2034 edition was fast-tracked toward Saudi Arabia one year ago.
FIFA said last week both 2030 and 2034 awards will be combined in a single vote. Any European opposition to the Saudi bid also would count against Spain and Portugal. Victory by acclamation without an itemized vote is possible. “If FIFA is desperate to give Saudi Arabia the World Cup,” Pieth said, “the least would be to see to it that the minimum of these (human rights) requirements is actually upheld.”
