A man accused of being gay is executed in Saudi Arabia in 2019.
On Wednesday, FIFA, the international soccer federation responsible for organizing the quadrennial men’s World Cup, formally awarded the 2034 tournament to Saudi Arabia, the lone nation to submit a bid after Australia and New Zealand dropped out in 2023.
Homosexuality is punishable by execution in Saudi Arabia, and human rights organizations have condemned FIFA’s decision.
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“Today’s confirmation of Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 FIFA men’s World Cup, despite the well-known and severe risks to residents, migrant workers and visiting fans alike, marks a moment of great danger,” read a joint statement from nearly two dozen groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
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“There is no shortage of evidence of migrant workers being exploited and subjected to [racial discrimination], activists sentenced to decades in prison for expressing themselves peacefully, women and LGBTQIA+ people facing legalized discrimination, or residents forcibly evicted to make way for state projects,” the statement added. “It is evident that without urgent action and comprehensive reforms, the 2034 World Cup will be tarnished by repression, discrimination and exploitation on a massive scale.”
Saudi Arabia’s winning bid comes two years after neighboring Qatar hosted a winter World Cup in 2022, where public displays of LGBTQ+ allyship — including rainbow attire — were banned by the government. Leading up to the tournament, FIFA said it would discipline players and teams with expulsion over plans to demonstrate against Qatar’s draconian anti-LGBTQ+ laws on the pitch.
At the time, FIFA urged federations to “focus on the football.”
As in Saudi Arabia, homosexuality in Qatar is also punishable by execution.
In its evaluation of the Saudi bid, FIFA scored the counrty 4.2 points out a possible 5, the highest score earned by any country in the organization’s history. Neither the bid nor FIFA’s evaluation mentioned LGBTQ+ rights specifically, and the football organization was vague in addressing the issue.
“As part of the Human Rights Strategy, the bidder commits 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 evaluation stated.
Human rights groups accused FIFA of complicity in Saudi Arabia’s abuses.
“As expected, FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record,” Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of labor rights and sport, told the Athletic. “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,” Cockburn added.
The victims of those violations include LGBTQ+ Saudis subject to the country’s lethal penalty for same-sex behavior.
“There is substantial evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being frequently subject to arrest… some of those arrested have been executed by authorities,” wrote the Human Dignity Trust, a charity providing legal protections to the LGBTQ+ community globally.
In its evaluation, FIFA rated Saudi Arabia’s human rights record as “medium risk.”
Said one Saudi women’s rights activist, “We cannot say that Saudi Arabia is a ‘medium risk’ country, given that it has become a pure police state.”
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