Jawad Iqbal Jawad Iqbal

The Saudi World Cup is a new low for Fifa

Fifa President Gianni Infantino (Credit: Getty images)

Fifa, world football’s governing body, is an organisation that is devoid of anything resembling a moral compass. In its place, the organisation chases money. That is why it comes as no great surprise that Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 World Cup, after Australia – the only other nation considering a bid – withdrew.

In reality, Fifa did everything possible to pave the way for Saudi success. Earlier this month, it unexpectedly announced that the bidding process for the 2034 tournament would take place at the same time as the one for 2030. Fifa’s decision to bring the timetable forward by three years appears to have been made without advance notice.

The sad truth is that no one – well, no one in Fifa at any rate – cares what human rights campaigners think

It gave potential bidders just a few weeks – until yesterday – to express their interest. In an apparent attempt to narrow things down even more, Fifa made clear that only countries from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), to which Saudi Arabia just happens to belong, and Oceania qualified to bid for the 2034 tournament.

Written by
Jawad Iqbal

Jawad Iqbal is a broadcaster and ex-television news executive. Jawad is a former Visiting Senior Fellow in the Institute of Global Affairs at the LSE

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