Spain, Portugal and Morocco have been awarded the 2030 World Cup and Saudi Arabia the 2034 tournament at FIFA's online congress. The two bids were unrivaled.
Rarely has a World Cup award been less eagerly awaited. With only one candidate dossier per tournament, FIFA's 211 member associations had no real choice. President Gianni Infantino had planned this in advance. FIFA thus constructed a "mega World Cup" in 2030 with opening matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. An additional bid from South America was thus bypassed.
With Europe, Africa and South America being considered in 2030 and North America playing in 2026, the way was clear for Saudi Arabia in 2034. The only serious contender, Australia, decided not to bid at the end of October last year - after a short lead time.
Following the double award to Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, FIFA had actually ruled out such procedures through reforms. Now, a change to the statutes meant that not only were two tournaments awarded on the same day, but the awards were even voted on together - in an online congress, no less. Any discussions and criticism were thus nipped in the bud, and you could only vote yes or no to the whole package, not to the individual tournaments.
Prior to the event, organizations such as Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and ALQST had drawn attention to the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia. The country is "even more repressive" than Qatar, according to an assessment by Amnesty. The tournament puts human lives at risk, warned human rights organizations, fan groups and trade unions in a joint statement. Like Qatar, the kingdom is accused of "sportswashing": Using sport with a positive connotation to whitewash violations of human rights, for example, and polish up its own image.
The Swiss Football Association was not immune to the discussions. Nevertheless, SFA Central President Dominique Blanc declared on Tuesday that he would approve the awards. A "far-reaching human rights strategy" added to the dossier convinced the association. Demands for independent control and appeal bodies, in addition to the International Workers' Organization, were formulated in a letter to FIFA.
