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Two months before FIFA approved Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup, on Friday it again called on the soccer body to allow an independent review of the kingdom's human rights commitments during the tournament.
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A group of legal and human rights experts and Saudi activists abroad want FIFA to order ongoing reviews – and a potential termination clause – of the contract to host the 2034 World Cup.
The advisers, who arrived in Zurich on Friday, want FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has close ties to Saudi political and soccer leaders, to be informed of Qatar's choice to host the 2022 World Cup. Qatar won in 2010, with FIFA leaders at the time giving little thought to legal safeguards and reputational challenges.
Saudi Arabia, like Qatar, is a traditionally conservative society and needs a massive construction project using migrant workers to build stadiums and other infrastructure for the world's biggest soccer event.
“There are really no more excuses now,” British lawyer Rodney Dixon told The Associated Press. “If that means they have to come to a different kind of agreement in December, then that's what they should do.”
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The agreements to host the World Cup will be signed after the decision on December 11 by more than 200 FIFA member associations during an online meeting. Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for 2034.
Promising there would be no confrontation with FIFA, Dixon said: “We are not naive. It is not FIFA's role to change the world. They are not the UN.”
The briefing in FIFA's hometown came two days after the United Nations General Assembly in New York rejected Saudi Arabia's bid for a seat on the 47-nation Human Rights Council for the next three years.
On Friday, potential FIFA advisers cited Saudi Arabia's record on freedom of speech and assembly, as well as male work and care laws that restrict women's freedoms.
After Infantino was first elected in 2016 amid intense scrutiny of Qatar and its treatment of migrant workers, FIFA demanded a human rights strategy from the future World Cup hosts.
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The bidding rules for the 2030 and 2034 men's tournaments refer to “bidding and hosting activities” rather than rights in wider society.
In May, FIFA received a proposal from lawyers 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 from 2011 to 2014, said they had been ignored and “we are here in Zurich to try again.”
Saudi Arabia's plans for the World Cup were published in July, including a review of its human rights strategy by selected lawyers and 15 stadium designs.
Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea said Friday that “serious labor violations” have been documented against migrant workers, who number more than 13 million, or about 40% of the kingdom's population.
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The scale of construction needed to stage the World Cup and the risk of labor abuses “is truly terrifying,” Shea said in a live broadcast from London.
She warned that while human rights groups had limited access to operate in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup, access to Saudi Arabia was “zero.”
Saudi soccer officials have consistently argued that the kingdom is making progress on social reforms as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, which aims to modernize and create a post-oil economy.
The 2034 bid campaign was contacted Friday for comment.
In a video message from Washington, Abdullah Alaoudh of the Center for Middle East Democracy stressed that “the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia has deteriorated under the leadership of Mohamed bin Salman.”
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Dixon noted that Saudi Arabia was ranked 131st out of 146 countries on gender issues by the World Economic Forum.
“(There are) so many laws that prejudice women,” he said. “None of these are included in Saudi Arabia's offer.”
FIFA is assessing bidders for the World Cup, with reports likely to be published in early December. It must also assess the human rights strategy of the only 2030 World Cup candidate: co-hosts Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with single matches played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“All relevant reports, including independent human rights context assessments and human rights strategies of all bidders 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 any questions about the World Cup bids since the 2034 edition in Saudi Arabia was brought forward a year ago.
We have reduced the likelihood of any protest among FIFA voters on December 11.
Last week, FIFA announced that the awards for 2030 and 2034 would be combined into one vote. Any European opposition to Saudi Arabia's offer will also count against Spain and Portugal. Victory by acclamation is possible without detailed voting.
“If FIFA is desperate to give Saudi Arabia the World Cup,” Pieth said, “the first thing would be to ensure that the minimum of these (human rights) requirements are actually respected.”
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