A senior football official has rebutted criticism from the European Parliament over awarding the 2034 Men’s World Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Mattias Grafström, secretary-general of the world football governing body FIFA, which runs the World Cup, told EU lawmakers in a letter seen by POLITICO that the organization had indeed factored respect for human rights and concern over environmental sustainability into its hosting decision.
Saudi Arabia, which has been on a multibillion dollar sports splurge as part of its Vision 2030 modernization program under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, won the right in December last year to host the flagship football tournament.
But FIFA’s decision earned blowback from human rights groups and climate watchdogs, who criticize the wealthy Gulf petromonarchy for its treatment of minority groups and migrant workers, as well as its huge fossil fuel production.
The European Parliament got involved in the Saudi backlash too — joining what is likely to be a 10-year maelstrom of criticism for the governing body and its president, Gianni Infantino.
In a stinging missive late last year, 30 MEPs from across the political spectrum said the decision to make Saudi Arabia the competition host “undermines the principles upon which FIFA was founded,” pointing to gender equality, human rights and environmental concerns.
FIFA wasn’t going to let that stand, however, and in a letter dated Jan. 9 Grafström — a top lieutenant to Infantino — pushed back at the criticism from Brussels.
“All aspects of the bidding process were conducted in accordance with the key principles of objectivity, transparency and integrity, with the main documents and guidelines relating to the process made publicly available online,” Grafström wrote.
On labor rights, Grafström said Saudi Arabia “has committed to ensuring equitable wages and decent working and living conditions for all individuals involved in the preparation and delivery of the FIFA World Cup,” while engaging with the International Labour Organization about working standards and conditions.
Qatar’s World Cup in 2022 faced more than a decade of fierce criticism over (among other things) the treatment of migrant workers used to build tournament infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia has faced intense criticism for its tough laws against homosexuality, but the FIFA letter said Riyadh “has committed to ensuring a secure and inclusive tournament environment free from discrimination, through the implementation of policies, procedures and educational measures to address discrimination in the tournament context.
“The bidder has also committed to reviewing and potentially amending relevant legislation as part of the government’s commitments under international standards,” Grafström added.
FIFA also stressed that fans and players would be safe at the tournament, as Saudi Arabia has made “a commitment to ensuring that the country’s penal code and respective criminal procedures relating to detention and fair trial align with best practice and international standards.”
Grafström signed off by pointing to the EU’s own cooperation with Saudi Arabia across energy, technology and business.
“The European Union has already demonstrated its commitment to strengthening economic, political and cultural ties with Saudi Arabia. Bilateral trade in goods reached €75 billion in 2023,” while “EU investment in Saudi Arabia increased by 50 percent between 2020 and 2022,” the top official pointed out.
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