FIFA World Cup 2034: Sportwashing a Human Rights Crisis

Saudi Arabia has recently been handed the honour of hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, a slap in the face to human rights progressives. In recent years the nation has been known not for their sporting ability, but for their persistent neglect for human rights, quashing of attempts at democracy and a remarkable resistance to progress, not seen anywhere else in the developed world.

Saudi Arabia’s political system is known as an absolute hereditary monarchy where power is concentrated in a single individual who has the final say on all policy implemented in the nation. The formation of political parties is a criminal offence however some have emerged over the years and were unable to provide any real impact on the Saudi political landscape. Their leaders have been forced into exile, fearing their freedom and safety. Yahya Assiri, the former leader of the National Assembly Party is now in political exile in London after his fellow pro-democracy activists faced imprisonment for the crime of "showing dissent and disobeying the ruler". Any Saudi Arabian unhappy with the direction of the nation or form of governance faces an aggressive putting down from the current regime which continues to show no intention of respecting the rights and wants of its people.The United Nations has democracy as one of their fundamental principles yet Saudi fails to meet the standards set by others in the union.

The current Saudi leader is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has used his power to rule with an iron fist, exiling or killing all those who oppose him. Under his reign the nation is amongst the lowest scoring nations on the Human Rights Index, scoring below both Iran and South Sudan. They are also one of the world’s hotspots for executions alongside China and Iran, with the nation putting hundreds of people to death every single year. In 2016, a cleric who supported anti-government protests was put to death alongside 47 other men in a mass execution which has since been condemned globally. In 2022, after pledging to tone down the use of capital punishment 81 men were put to death with it being deemed ‘highly unlikely’ that any of them received a fair trial. It’s also been alleged that convicted citizens were tortured during interrogation, which is in violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Human Rights Watch published an article in 2018 where they claimed to have received information that Saudi Arabia was torturing women’s rights activists with ‘electric shocks, beatings, whippings and sexual harassment’. Journalist Jamal Ahmad Hamza Khashoggi, critic of the Saudi King and Crown Prince was forced to leave the nation. He attempted to return a year later but was assassinated on the order of Crown Prince bin Salman. 

In spite of all of the above, FIFA were somehow able to look beyond these violations and grant Saudi Arabia hosting rights. FIFA’s official human rights approach puts in the measure of “integrating human rights requirements into bidding processes for competitions and as a factor in the subsequent selection of the hosts.” It’s clear that, as morality played no role in their host selection, finances are likely to have been the driving factor. FIFA’s expansionary desires have pushed football's largest event to every corner of the globe and to fully cement a presence in the Middle East a Saudi Arabia World Cup was the ultimate solution. For Saudi Arabia this is merely a piece in the puzzle of their 2030 vision as they look to diversify their economy from gas and push themselves to the forefront of anything profitable in the global market. 

In the build-up to the Russian-hosted World Cup of 2018, the international community rightly pushed for the tournament to be either moved or boycotted amidst persistent Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. The World Cup went on as planned but the pushback created a meaningful discussion of the value of human rights and democracy around the globe.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia has also proven time and time again that they are undeserving of any positive media attention they receive from the sporting and economic community. In May 2025, Saudi Arabia have been holding a British citizen in custody for over nine months and have killed double the number of people through executions then the year prior. Yet, British politicians have remained eerily silent on the matter.

If the international community was truly serious about upholding the value of human rights across the globe, they would consider serious opposition to the 2034 World Cup. At the moment only dedicated human rights charities and a handful of Football Associations have posed some resistance to FIFA’s decision: Amnesty has said that this World Cup puts many lives at risk, and Human Rights Watch have pushed for adequate human rights commitments before allowing Saudi Arabia to host. They state that significant improvement is needed in the current situation regarding workers' rights, and that protections must be instituted to prevent a repeat of a situation similar to the deaths of migrant workers in the buildup to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The British Football Association and Government have chosen not to raise concerns in their response. Here’s to hoping they will voice their critiques in the months ahead.