Controversial award
Official! World Cup 2034 to be held in Saudi Arabia
The next controversial soccer "desert World Cup" is now official. FIFA confirmed the awarding of the 2034 tournament at its congress on Wednesday. The venues for the 2030 World Cup have also been finalized. Six countries are involved.
The 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. As expected, the FIFA Congress on Wednesday awarded the 2030 finals to Spain, Morocco and Portugal, as well as one opening match each to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The award was made online in a vote for both final competitions by acclamation. There were no opposing candidates in each case.
During his opening speech, FIFA President Gianni Infantino spoke of an "incredible message of unity" that was being sent to a world in which there was a feeling that there was no longer any unity. "We want to make history now, we want to unite the world with soccer, through soccer," said the Swiss.
Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly criticized by human rights organizations in recent months. Human Rights Watch recently wrote of "blatant human rights violations" in the kingdom. FIFA, on the other hand, had only given the bid a "medium" risk rating for human rights issues. Saudi Arabia promises far-reaching reforms in its bid documents.
Match dates completely open
It is completely open when the game will be played in 2034. Comparable to the conditions in neighboring Qatar, which will host the World Cup at the end of 2022, Saudi Arabia experiences extreme heat during the traditional World Cup months of June and July. The postponement to late fall would cause major problems for the match dates of the leagues and international club competitions. The Winter Olympics will be held at the beginning of the year, in February 2034.
The return to the Gulf region just twelve years after the Qatar World Cup was made possible by FIFA President Gianni Infantino's decision to award the 2030 finals to countries on three continents. South America will host the opening event to mark the 100th anniversary of the World Cup. Spain and Portugal will be the first hosts from the territory of the European Football Union UEFA since Russia 2018. "The world will stand still and celebrate these 100 years (of World Cups)," said Infantino.
With the upcoming 2026 World Cup taking place in the USA, Mexico and Canada, only a host from the Asian confederation was eligible for the 2034 tournament under FIFA regulations. As the only potential rival candidate to Saudi Arabia, Australia had declined - partly due to the short bidding deadlines. This cleared the way for the Kingdom. After the scandal-ridden double award in 2010 to Russia for the 2018 World Cup and Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, FIFA had originally announced its intention to forego such a procedure.
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