As expected, it was a formality. On Wednesday December 11, the 211 national federations members of the International Football Federation (FIFA) designated, during a congress « extraordinaire » by videoconference, Saudi Arabia as host country of the 2034 World Cup. It is by acclamation, “in block”and simultaneously, that the affiliated countries awarded the tournament to the Saudi kingdom, and offered the trio Spain-Portugal-Morocco the 2030 edition – with three matches played in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay to celebrate the centenary of the competition.
Read the survey | Article reserved for our subscribers Saudi Arabia has a “World” ambition for football
Read later
There was no suspense to the extent that the terms of this award process, particularly locked down and opaque, dissuaded possible contenders, such as Australia, from entering the race against Saudi Arabia. . As recalled in a December report by the independent Danish platform Play the Game, the FIFA council, the body’s main decision-making body, decided, in October 2023, that “ only countries from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation were eligible to apply” for the 2034 edition. “tight deadline of 25 days” was then set for countries to officially express their interest, develops Play the Game. “Only 81 minutes” after FIFA’s announcement, the Saudi federation positioned itself.
To mitigate criticism, after having departed from its statutes by planning the awarding of two World Championships during the same congress, the international body previously asked its 211 members this Wednesday if they accepted the voting method chosen by the advice while voting “by acclamation” without it being possible to know who was opposed to it. In the process, the two applications were acclaimed by thunderous applause via screens.
A risk considered “medium” on human rights
“There was only one application for the 2030 edition, and only one for 2034. We can regret it, but the new format with 48 teams requires significant logistics and financial resources,” argues Franck Castillo, the French secretary general of the Oceanian Confederation. Like many other football leaders, Mr. Castillo believes that “ ten years are not too long to organize a World Cup of this scale, and to make it a huge success “. As for the voting method, “what would have been the point of organizing two separate extraordinary Congresses? »he says.
You have 56.54% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
