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Human Rights Watch believes that a potential Saudi Arabia-hosted World Cup would regress football to a negative period.
Fifa officially announced on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is the only country vying to host the 2034 tournament. The bidding process was short, lasting less than a month, and only Asian and Oceanian federations were allowed to express interest.
Although it has not been officially approved yet, most likely at Fifa’s congress in the following year, this seems like a mere formality.
Minky Worden, director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch, expressed concern about Fifa’s decision to award the World Cup through a non-competitive and opaque bidding process. She believes this approach echoes the corruption that tainted the Qatar and Russia World Cups and resulted in numerous arrests.
“Why were all other federations, who had previously shown interest in hosting the World Cup, discouraged or prohibited from bidding, despite there being over 11 years until the 2034 tournament?”
Fifa emphasized that it will discuss with Saudi Arabia before the congress to ensure compliance with human rights obligations. However, Worden is not optimistic about the outcome.
She stated that while not flawless, there was a previously established process for evaluating proposals and addressing foreseeable human rights issues.
If Saudi Arabia’s bid is allowed to proceed as intended, Fifa’s human rights policy will hold little value.
I do not have the text to reword. The source is the website “independent.co.uk.”
