Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup - FIFA
Agencies
12/12/2024
The 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, while Spain, Portugal and Morocco will co-host the 2030 tournament, - Photo X @X FIFA World Cup Stats
THE international football tournament, the 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, while Spain, Portugal and Morocco will co-host the 2030 tournament, as confirmed by the world's governing body, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA).
Three matches in the 2030 tournament will also be held in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tournament.
The hosts for the two World Cups were confirmed at the FIFA Congress Extraordinary Meeting on Wednesday, following a vote. All 211 FIFA member states were represented in the meeting via video link.
The hosts for both the tournament and the 100th anniversary celebration in 2030 were confirmed through two separate ballots.
The first ballot chose Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina as the hosts of the 100th anniversary celebrations.
The second vote confirmed the three hosts for 2030, as well as the awarding of the 2034 tournament to Saudi Arabia.
Member states cast their votes through acclamation – applause in front of their cameras via video link.
In all three results, only one ballot option was available, and prior to the acclamation voting process, FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom said: "All 211 [member associations] have effectively cast their votes before the congress."
Norway chose to remain neutral because of "concerns over the current FIFA World Cup bidding process" and not because Saudi Arabia was named as the host.
The Swiss Football Association also requested that their observations be included in the congress minutes.
On Tuesday, the Swiss FA said it would approve Saudi Arabia's bid for the 2034 World Cup, but demanded human rights be monitored by FIFA and international labor organizations.
The Danish Football Union (DBU) said it supported the entire package for both World Cup bids but wanted FIFA to monitor human rights improvements.
DBU chairman, Jesper Moller, said: "We would like to see more bids for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups and we criticise this whole process."
Saudi Arabia has been accused of sportswashing in recent years - using exorbitant spending on sports to improve the oil-producing country's reputation for its human rights record and environmental impact.
Of the 15 stadiums identified to host the 2034 World Cup matches, only four have been built so far. - Agency
