★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ FIFA WORLD CUP 2034 ≡
“[T]he Saudi Arabia bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034 presents a very strong all-round proposition, reflected in the results of the technical evaluation, which assesses the proposed infrastructure (both sporting and general) as well as its commercial potential.
“The bid proposes a portfolio of new, state-of-the-art infrastructure blending what is industry leading with novel elements, in some cases even exploring new terrain in terms of design and how stakeholders interact with the competition. From a commercial standpoint, the bid provides a very good financial platform, based on a combination of competitive revenue potential and clear cost efficiencies.”
That’s the key message of the FIFA evaluation report on the Saudi Arabia bid for the 2024 FIFA World Cup, for which Saudi Arabia is the only bidder and will be formally selected at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress on 11 December.
The 110-page report notes the question of when the tournament will make place, since summer temperatures in the Arabian Peninsula are far too high. Timing similar to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar of 20 November to 18 December can be expected, dates which will interrupt the seasons of many domestic leagues in Europe and Africa.
And the report did not shirk from the human rights questions raised about the Saudi regime, but maintained an optimistic outlook that the presence of the FIFA World Cup can be leveraged to benefit the human-rights situation in the country.
In the section on human rights, the report explains:
“In the bid’s Human Rights Strategy, the bidder commits to ensuring equitable wages and decent working and living conditions for all individuals involved in the preparation and delivery of the FIFA World Cup, including through the establishment of a workers’ welfare system to monitor compliance with labour rights standards for tournament-related workers. The Human Rights Strategy also includes commitments to continued country-wide labour reform. In that respect, the host government commits to engaging with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in relation to its commitment to upholding international labour standards in all activities associated with the competition and to favourably consider a collaboration with the ILO in that respect.
“Clarification was sought on existing and plans for collaboration with the ILO. The bidder confirmed that there is an existing cooperation program in place and that meetings and visits with the ILO were held this year regarding further cooperation to ensure a decent work environment in the context of hosting the competition, should the bid be successful.
“The effective protection of tournament-related workers would depend on the timely implementation (or otherwise) of a continued reform agenda, as well as the establishment of robust workers’ welfare systems to protect workers connected to tournament infrastructure. Through the implementation of these commitments, there is also the potential for the tournament to help contribute to ongoing labour reforms that benefit workers far beyond those involved in tournament-related activities.
“Clarification was sought on whether the proposed worker’s welfare system proposed under the Human Rights Strategy has already been implemented for the stadiums where construction-refurbishment has commenced (given some will be part of the AFC Asian Cup 2027). The bidder confirmed this is the case and further elaborated on various measures being taken to improve the labour welfare system for current workers, which is encouraging.”
The report also noted that its policy regarding bids is to evaluate “how effectively bidders intend to address human rights risks connected with a tournament. It is not about peremptorily excluding countries based on their general human rights context”
and
“[I]n view of the significant ten-year timeframe for implementation and the rate of progress seen in recent years, it is believed that there is good potential for the tournament to serve as a catalyst for some of the ongoing and future reforms, and contribute to positive human rights outcomes for people in Saudi Arabia and the region that go beyond the scope of the tournament itself.”
The report assesses human rights at a “medium risk” level. The overall score was 419.8 out of 500 (or 4.2 out of 5).
Not surprisingly, the response from Amnesty International was angry; with Head of Labour Rights and Sport Steve Cockburn (GBR) saying:
“As expected, FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record. There are no meaningful commitments that will prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being evicted or activists from being arrested.
“By ignoring the clear evidence of severe human rights risks, FIFA is likely to bear much responsibility for the violations and abuses that will take place over the coming decade. Fundamental human rights reforms are urgently required in Saudi Arabia, or the 2034 World Cup will be inevitably tarnished by exploitation, discrimination and repression.”
¶
That’s the politics of the Saudi bid. There are also the football aspects, which are daunting, remembering that FIFA now has 48 teams in the tournament, not 32 as in Qatar in 2022. The Saudi bid proposes:
● Five host cities and 15 stadia to host the tournament.
● Eight stadia must be built, and three others are now under construction in advance of the 2027 Asian Cup. Four existing stadia will all be upgraded for the tournament. That’s a lot of construction, even with a 10-year run-up.
● Eight of the stadia are in the Riyadh area – the capital city – with four more in Jeddah and three others spread around the country.
● Stadiums, accommodations and transportation are all assessed at “medium risk,” with much of the transportation infrastructure also yet to be built.
The opening and final matches are planned for the King Salman International Stadium, a planned venue of 92,760 seats. Twelve of the other 14 venues are from 45,000-47,000 seats, with two others at 58,432 in Jeddah and 70,200 in Riyadh.
On finance, the report noted that the projected costs for FIFA to stage the tournament in Saudi Arabia were less than their baseline amounts – by $450 million – and that revenues could be 32% above the baseline or $240 million more, thanks to extensive hospitality sales. That makes the tournament a good business proposition for FIFA.
In the introduction to the report, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom (SWE) wrote:
“We trust that you will deem we have performed our evaluation with the necessary objectivity, rigour and transparency and laid the foundation for a 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup that showcases and celebrates football’s truly global dimensions.”
Saudi Arabia’s critics are hardly satisfied with the FIFA evaluation of the Saudi bid, but it will be selected anyway on 11 December. And the criticism will continue for the next 10 years.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 885-event International Sports Calendar for the rest of 2024, 2025 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
Sign-up for our exclusive TSX Report, your Olympic-sport briefing, delivered right to your inbox: it’s FREE!
