FIFA Inspection Praises Saudi Arabia Bid to Host 2034 World Cup, Multi-Country 2030 Bid

FIFA approved the quality of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup in a 110-page evaluation Saturday that noted higher risks related to human rights in the oil-rich kingdom.

FIFA’s in-house inspection team noted Saudi Arabia must invest “significant effort and time” to fulfill promises for the tournament that comply with international standards, which were widely criticized this year at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

On December 11 in a scheduled online meeting, FIFA will ask member nations to approve both Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup and the Spain-Portugal-Morocco co-hosting bid for the 2030 edition. That project also gives one game to each of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, which was the original World Cup host in 1930.

The Saudi bid has come with opposition from other parts of the world, including the United States. U.S. Senate Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon and Dick Durbin of Illinois last month sent a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino urging him “to seek out a host country with a record of upholding human rights.”

The Saudi bid also was scored by FIFA staff as “medium risk” for construction projects to build most of the 15 stadiums and dozens of new hotels needed, plus picking which months to play the 48-team, 104-game tournament. Concerns about a Saudi-hosted World Cup include it will repeat the issues seen in Qatar’s 12 years of preparing to host the 2022 World Cup.

The 32-team World Cup in Qatar was played in 28 days in November and December, outside the traditional time of June–July when temperature in the region routinely exceed 104 degrees. Riyadh is hosting the multisport Asian Games in the first two weeks of December 2034 and the holy month of Ramadan also runs from mid-November to mid-December. Another clash for international sports in 2034 is the Olympic Winter Games being hosted in two weeks in February by Salt Lake City.

FIFA said it put a cap of 25% of the tickets being offered for corporate hospitality packages in the stadiums that range from 46,000 capacity to 92,000 seats for the planned King Salman International Stadium in Riyadh, which will stage the final.

FIFA plans to have the 2030 World Cup in three continents and six countries after the unprecedented announcement of having Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay each host one game before the rest of the tournament heads to Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Spain hosted the World Cup in 1982 while Morocco’s role will make it the second African country to host World Cup matches after South Africa in 2010. It will be the first time World Cup matches are held in Portugal. FIFA will formally ratify the bid in December.