Saudi Arabia will be the host of World Cup 2034 without facing any opposition, as Australia has decided not to bid for the tournament. Amnesty International is urging any potential host to make “human rights commitments” before the official confirmation.
Saudi Arabia will host the World Cup 2034 because Australia decided not to bid. Amnesty International is calling for human rights commitments if the hosting is confirmed.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia announced its official intention to host the men’s event, following FIFA’s decision to limit the process to countries from Oceania and Asia.
An Australian bid was considered the only real challenge to Saudi Arabia.
Football Australia has decided not to submit a bid, despite considering it. They made this decision just before FIFA’s deadline for declarations of interest.
FIFA announced that they received only one bid from the Saudi Football Federation to host the tournament.
“Having taken all factors into consideration, we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” it said.
“Football Australia is ambitious to bring more major tournaments to our shores. We believe we are in a strong position to host the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and then welcome the greatest teams in world football for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.”
Adding those events, between the 2023 Women’s World Cup and 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, would make it a “truly amazing decade for Australian soccer”.
On Tuesday, Amnesty International asked for countries to agree on “human rights commitments” before making any final decisions regarding hosting.
“Steve Cockburn, who leads the charity’s work on fairness and social well-being, stated that FIFA needs to explain how it expects host countries to follow its human rights guidelines. If significant risks to human rights are not adequately addressed, FIFA should be ready to pause the bidding process.”
“The best chance for FIFA to obtain binding guarantees to protect workers’ rights, ensure freedom of expression and prevent discrimination linked to the World Cup is during the host selection process – not after the hosts have been confirmed and tournament preparation has begun.”
With the 2026 event happening in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and the 2030 World Cup taking place in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with some matches also in South America (if approved by FIFA’s congress), only bids from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation were considered for the 2034 tournament.
Hosting a World Cup would be the next big investment in sports for Saudi Arabia. They aim to attract international stars, like Cristiano Ronaldo, to play in the country.
“Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al Faisal, Saudi’s Minister of Sport, expressed that hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2034 would be a major achievement for the country and a significant moment in its transformation into a prominent nation in global sports.”
“As an emerging and welcoming home for all sports, we believe that hosting a FIFA World Cup is a natural next step in our football journey.”
The Asian Football Confederation supported the Saudi bid.
Its president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa, said earlier this month: “The entire Asian football family will stand united in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s momentous initiative.”
A World Cup in Saudi Arabia could lead to a violation of FIFA’s policy against discrimination towards gay people. This is due to the changes implemented after the controversial decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a country with anti-LGBT laws.
Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al Faisal told Sky News last year: “There are rules that everyone respects about our culture and how they have to abide by the culture that we have.
“So even men and women – they can’t show affection in public places, and so on. And that’s a regulation that we have that we need to respect. And we have to respect the culture.”
Last week, Human Rights Watch criticized FIFA for not applying its own rules to Saudi Arabia’s bid, specifically article seven of its human rights policy.
The article states: “FIFA will constructively engage with relevant authorities and other stakeholders and make every effort to uphold its international human rights responsibilities.”
Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said: “The possibility that FIFA could award Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup despite its appalling human rights record and closed door to any monitoring exposes FIFA’s commitments to human rights as a sham.”
A FIFA Congress with representatives from 211 football nations will announce the hosts for an upcoming event in 2024.
FIFA has not yet selected a host for the Women’s World Cup in 2027. The decision is expected to be made next year.
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