LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Despite criticism over the environment and human rights, FIFA, as expected, on Wednesday entrusted the 2030 FIFA World Cup to the Spain-Portugal-Morocco trio, with three matches in South America, and the 2034 edition to Saudi Arabia.
Gathered by videoconference, the 211 member federations ratified this double designation by acclamation, without the slightest suspense: the two files were the only ones in the running after a series of withdrawals and, for 2034, a lightning procedure limited to Asia and Oceania, in the name of continental rotation.
The Norwegian federation (NFF), already very critical of the attribution of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, nevertheless refused to approve a process that was “defective and incompatible” with the principles of “responsibility, transparency and objectivity” claimed by the FIFA, she said in a press release.
In 2030, the “Centenary World Cup” will therefore unite six countries, an unprecedented arrangement since the first edition of the jewel of global Football in 1930, which then brought together 13 selections in Montevideo. Thirty-two teams participated in the 2022 World Cup, and the final phase will include 48 from 2026.
After three matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, scheduled for June 8 and 9, 2030, in the cool of the southern winter, the six teams involved and their supporters will cross the Atlantic for the other 101 matches, from June 13 to 21 July.
With 11 of the 20 stadiums proposed, Spain should be the main host after having already organized the 1982 World Cup, but Morocco, a five-time unsuccessful candidate for the organization, will become the second country on the African continent to host it. welcome, after South Africa in 2010.
Saudi sports diplomacy
Spain and Morocco are still competing for the opening match and the final, respectively proposing the Santiago-Bernabeu in Madrid or the Camp Nou in Barcelona and the future Hassan-II enclosure between Casablanca and Rabat, which aims to become the “largest stadium of the world” with 115,000 seats. Portugal offers the two stadiums in Lisbon and Porto, and is seeking a semi-final.
Invoking the principle of geographical rotation, FIFA had limited its call for applications for 2034 to the Asian and Oceanic confederations, carried out briskly in a short month in the fall of 2023.
And Saudi Arabia, the emerging superpower of world sport – from F1 to the future e-sport Olympics, including the 2029 Asian Winter Games – found itself the only candidate after Australia’s withdrawal and Indonesia, and the shelving of China’s footballing ambitions.
The ultraconservative kingdom, launched into a strategy of economic diversification and improvement of its image, currently only has 2 of the 14 stadiums with at least 40,000 seats required.
Beyond the logistical challenge, the scorching summer could force the competition to be moved to winter or late autumn, as in Qatar in 2022, but it will be necessary to deal with Ramadan, expected in December.
“Lives in danger”
The 2030 tricontinental formula was greeted last year with questions about its environmental impact, as well as the cost for supporters, but it is above all the designation of Saudi Arabia which concentrates criticism and fears.
It “puts lives in danger and reveals the vacuity of FIFA’s commitments in terms of human rights”, said Wednesday in a joint text 21 organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Sport and Rights Alliance and Football Supporters Europe (FSE).
“Today, there is no shortage of evidence: migrant workers exploited and victims of racism, activists sentenced to decades in prison for expressing themselves peacefully, women and LGBTQIA+ people facing legalized discrimination, or even residents expelled force to make way for state projects,” their press release lists.
For the signatories, “it is clear that without urgent action and comprehensive reforms, the 2034 World Cup will be tarnished by repression, discrimination and exploitation on a large scale”.
In its evaluation report, FIFA estimates that Saudi commitments in terms of human rights will require “a significant effort in time and energy” by 2034, but sees “a significant probability that the competition will serve as a catalyst for current and future reforms.
