With the tournament formally awarded, it's time for a new thread. @Paul Calixte The bid evaluation report can be seen here. It was a single bid submitted by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
From the previous thread... As someone who lives in the region (UAE) I'm less concerned with some of the off-field tourist issues that will undoubtedly be raised like with Qatar. I see up close how Saudi is changing at a rapid pace. The timing will likely be disruptive to the big European leagues, but it's fair to ask why some countries should be off-limits just because of that. What bothers me the most is how this World Cup was awarded. The complete lack of due process and engineered circumstances to make sure there is only one bid. For those still unaware, Infantino and his FIFA Council gave less than a month to potential bidders to register their interest. That is an impossible task in a democratic nation where government commitments and spending need to be justified and vetted in a political process.
The reason FIFA engineered the WC going to Saudi is because they will provide FIFA with the revenue to invest in football globally. Aramco's sponsorship is reportedly worth USD$100m annually, making it comfortably FIFA's most valuable sponsor. It's likely that the Saudi WC will be the most lucrative for FIFA outside one held in the USA particularly given that FIFA is budgeting for significant increases in sponsorship revenue which had seen low growth since Infantino took over until Aramco signed up this year. DAZN's reported $1bn deal to broadcast the Club WC is apparently being financed by Saudi. As far as FIFA is concerned that's more than enough to engineer the WC going to Saudi in exchange.
I don’t know how to reply to someone on different thread, but I was asked by @Paul Calixte if I have ever been to the US to make a judgement like the one I did in the previous thread. My response: Yes, I lived more than 10 years in the US (different years) and I still stand by my comment. Anyhow, I always knew we will be hammered like Qatar did for the upcoming 10 years, but it is what it is and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I just think it is unfair to call it sport washing just because some people have a different political view than us (Saudi).
There was actually some talks going on in other areas of Asia and the Pacific about submitting bids with at least 3 possible groupings having preliminary talks. It was FIFA who with very short notice announced that the time to lodge formal expressions would be reduced to weeks when the process would normally have had a couple more years to run. Saudi Arabia announced its bid a couple of hours later and the heavies were put on other potential bidders to not go ahead. Saudi Arabia may well have won the bid under normal circumstances but obviously a deal was cooked up to eliminate any competition from the start. In the end it was probably better handled than the 2018 and 2022 bids because at least they prevented other bidders with no chance of wasting their money.
You can click on "Quote", then copy the text that appears in the box below (with the quote and /quote commands), go to the thread where you can/want to respond, and paste the same text. Sportswashing isn't necessarily about which political views you have, but about deliberately investing in sports to divert attention away from human rights abuses.
I’ve never quite understood the “sportswashing” argument. Hosting a major event like the World Cup shines a spotlight on your country, highlighting both the good and bad for the whole world to see. It doesn’t help you hide anything. Without the World Cup, no one would’ve known where Doha is or cared at all about its laws, labor practices, or human rights in the country. Instead, they were blitzed nonstop on these topics for years, made to answer for it, and (by many indications) the situation is now aligned a bit closer to what we see in liberal western countries.
Booze ban unlikely to be lifted for Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup: https://www.insideworldfootball.com...-unlikely-lifted-saudi-arabia-2034-world-cup/ While bad news for those who enjoy a pint when watching sports (me included), a transparent approach is much preferred to Qatar where the rules changed 48 hours before the opening match. People who make plans to attend should have a clear picture of the experience that awaits them.
What about entry into the country for seasoned travelers? A person who has visited Israel may not be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia if their passport shows that they have traveled to Israel. Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israeli sovereignty.
I doubt that will be an issue in 2034. Qatar also does not recognise Israel and I don’t think anyone was refused entry on the basis of an Israeli stamp in the passport. Also, Israeli authorities are known not to stamp passports in order not to complicate regional travel for its holder. Entry with an Israeli passport is, of course, a different matter.
When Saudi Arabia began opening up for regular tourists around 2019, they explicitly stated that an Israel stamp is not an issue. And Israel no longer stamps passports, though a land border exit to Jordan or Egypt may leave evidence of a visit to Israel (which is what happened to my passport). Saudi Arabia will likely do a Fan ID/Hayya system to open and ease entry. The 2026 WC will be more of a struggle for much of the world to enter the country than 2034.
Agree that whatever they decide, it should be announced in advance and adhered to. For Qatar, I think many people were more upset about the bait-and-switch. Saudi Arabia is interested in opening up their country and 2034 is still a ways off. I think by then (regardless of the WC), we may see alcohol sold in a small number of hotel bars for (primarily) foreigner and expat consumption, just like Qatar. I think having open fan zones with beer like in Doha would be a bit of a stretch, but you never know. Regardless, no country should feel obligated to change its laws for a six week soccer tournament. It’s different from Brazil and Russia, where the laws specifically ban alcohol in stadiums for public safety. In that case, FIFA could reasonably make the argument that the World Cup crowds are way different from a regular club game.
Will women be allowed to wear western clothes? A country with no booze and women all in burkas just seems miserable.
I would think women (and men) can wear Western clothes. Many do now, at least in the major cities (Jeddah, Riyadh). In most countries, women covering up is a cultural expectation, rather than enforced law. And those expectations aren’t necessarily applied to non-Muslim foreigners. Though many visitors choose to do so in respect for local customs and to avoid staring and unwanted attention. I don’t think anyone is claiming a visit to Saudi Arabia will be a massive western-style party. But everyone will be able to visit without issue, so long as they show the most basic respect for local law and customs (same as visiting anywhere). Every World Cup host has pros and cons to it.
That’s fair. I did hear a female writer on a podcast say one of her favorite things about the Qatar World Cup was not being groped by drunk European men. It was an eye opening comment.