The extraordinary FIFA Congress, held electronically this Wednesday in Zurich with the 211 member federations, has awarded the celebration of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, in addition to ratifying the dispute of the 2030 World Cup event in Spain, Portugal and Morocco .
In the centenary of the history of the World Cups, Spain will once again be the epicenter of football, for the second time after 1982, but on this occasion it will share the spotlight with its Portuguese and Moroccan neighbors, as well as with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where The first World Cup was held in 1930.
The three South American countries will host commemorative matches for the 100th anniversary of the World Cup and the bulk of the tournament will be played between Africa and Europe. But beyond the election of Spain, the big news of the event was the designation of Saudi Arabia, also expected because the Arab country was the only candidate for 2034.
“The essence of football is that it cannot be predicted and our strong point is unity. Football is a unique social phenomenon, capable of uniting people from all over the world, from all social classes. It unites people in a peaceful, joyful context based on respect,” said Gianni Intantino at the beginning of the event, together with the organization’s secretary general, Mattias Grafstrom.
The Saudi bid promises to organize the best World Cup in history thanks to its practically unlimited budget, which will allow it to provide 15 futuristic stadiums of which 11 will be built from scratch. But behind so much brilliance, protected by petrodollars, the long shadow of a country where human rights are not respected stands out.
“Two years ago, at this same time, we were enjoying the World Cup in Qatar. It was an incredible success story,” Infantino recalled the last World Cup, also in a country where human rights are in question. The situation in Saudi Arabia is even worse, according to an elaborate study by Amnesty International.
The report deplores the lack of freedom of expression and association in an Arab territory where the death penalty exists, even for minors. The citizens who have the least rights are migrants, the majority Ethiopian and Nepalese, many attacked and exploited, some murdered on the Yemen border, and women, discriminated against in marriage, divorce, custody of children and inheritance.
Human rights defenders are also persecuted, with manifestly unfair trials. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty International, is one of the 10 largest producers of fossil fuels in the world and blocked a G20 initiative to reduce emissions. The oil company Aramco alone accounts for almost 5% of all global emissions.
“We are unleashing the potential of our people, we are opening ourselves to the world and, most importantly, we are improving the living conditions of all the inhabitants of the country. The objective is to grow together,” the Saudi Sports Minister, Youth Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal al-Saud, defended his candidacy.
Although all the decisions had already been made, Gianni Infantino gave way at the end of the event to a telematic vote that was measured with applause, under the watchful eye of several scrutineers of the process. Once the surreal moment was over, the FIFA president proceeded to announce, with two small signs, the candidacies of Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup and of Saudi Arabia in 2034.
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