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Two months before FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 World Cup, the football body was again urged on Friday to allow independent scrutiny of the kingdom's human rights obligations for the tournament.
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A group of legal and human rights experts, as well as Saudi activists abroad, want FIFA to demand ongoing reviews – and a possible termination clause – of the 2034 World Cup hosting contract.
Advisers who came to Zurich on Friday want FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is closely linked to Saudi political and football leaders, to learn how Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup. Qatar won in 2010 without FIFA's then leaders thinking about the legal safeguards and reputational challenges.
Saudi Arabia, like Qatar, is a traditionally conservative society and needs a huge construction project that relies on migrant workers to build stadiums and other infrastructure for the world's biggest football event.
“There really are no excuses now,” British lawyer Rodney Dixon told the Associated Press. “If that means they have to reach a different kind of agreement in December, that’s what they should do.”
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World Cup hosting contracts will be signed following the December 11 decision by more than 200 FIFA member federations in an online meeting. Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for 2034.
Vowing not to clash with FIFA, Dixon said: “We are not naive. It is not FIFA's role to change the world. They are not the UN.”
The meeting in the FIFA headquarters city took place two days after the UN General Assembly in New York rejected a Saudi bid to obtain a seat on the Human Rights Council, made up of 47 countries, for the next three years.
On Friday, would-be FIFA advisers cited Saudi Arabia's record on freedom of expression and assembly, and laws on labor and male guardianship that limit women's freedoms.
After Infantino was first elected in 2016, when scrutiny was intense over Qatar and its treatment of migrant workers, FIFA demanded a human rights strategy from future World Cup hosts.
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The bidding rules for the 2030 and 2034 men's tournaments refer to “activities related to bidding and organization” and not to rights in society at large.
In May, FIFA received an offer from law and human rights experts to create an independent process to monitor progress in Saudi Arabia.
Swiss law professor Mark Pieth, FIFA's anti-corruption adviser between 2011 and 2014, said they were ignored and that “we are here in Zurich to try again.”
In July, Saudi plans for the World Cup were published, including a review of its human rights strategy by chosen lawyers and 15 stadium designs.
Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea said Friday that he has documented “serious labor violations” against migrant workers who number more than 13 million, or about 40 percent of the kingdom’s population.
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The scale of construction needed for the World Cup and the potential for labor abuses “is really scary,” Shea said live from London.
She warned that while human rights groups have limited access to operate in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup, they have “zero access” to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi football officials have consistently said the kingdom is making progress on social reforms as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 initiative to modernize and create a post-oil economy.
The 2034 Bid Campaign was contacted for comment on Friday.
In a video message from Washington DC, Abdullah Alaoudh of the Middle East Democracy Center insisted that “the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia has worsened under the leadership of Mohamed bin Salman”.
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Saudi Arabia was ranked 131st out of 146 nations on gender issues by the World Economic Forum, Dixon noted.
“(There are) so many laws that harm women,” he said. “None of them are addressed by the Saudi offer.”
FIFA is evaluating World Cup contenders with reports likely in early December. It must also evaluate the human rights strategy of the only candidate for the 2030 World Cup: co-hosts Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with unique games in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“All relevant reports, including the independent assessments of the human rights context and the human rights strategies of all competitors for the 2030 and 2034 editions, are available on our website,” FIFA said on Friday.
FIFA and Infantino have not held a press conference to answer questions about the World Cup bids since the 2034 edition was fast-tracked towards Saudi Arabia a year ago.
Any protest among FIFA voters on December 11 has become less likely.
FIFA said last week that the 2030 and 2034 awards will be combined into a single vote. Any European opposition to the Saudi candidacy would also count against Spain and Portugal. Victory by acclamation without detailed voting is possible.
“If FIFA is desperate to give the World Cup to Saudi Arabia,” said Pieth, “the minimum would be to ensure that the minimum of these (human rights) requirements are actually respected.”
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