In a dramatic and unexpected step, Saudi Arabia recently issued new rules that effectively prohibit small grocery shops — referred to as “baqalas” — from carrying staple everyday items like tobacco, fresh fruits and vegetables, dates, and meat. The order, given by Majed Al Hogail, Minister of Municipalities and Housing, instantaneously set off controversy surrounding the centralization of retailing, the suppression of local business, and the general implications of Saudi Arabia’s authoritative economic system.
Whereas this development on the surface might appear unrelated to sports, it does create a disturbing picture of the type of nation that FIFA is going to leave in charge of staging the 2034 World Cup. The government that currently tells a neighborhood store what it can or cannot put on sale is the same one set to stage the world’s greatest sporting spectacle — an event that’s supposed to celebrate inclusion, community, diversity, and grassroots development.
Saudi Arabia’s New Retail Rules: An Overview
The new regulations provide that:
- Small supermarkets are no longer permitted to sell tobacco items (including electronic cigarettes), shisha, fresh fruits and vegetables, dates, or meat.
- A separate license is now required to sell meat.
- Only big stores such as supermarkets and hypermarkets can sell these basic products.
Minimum floor areas are now regulated:
- 24 square meters for supermarkets
- 100 square meters for supermarkets
- 500 square meters for hypermarkets
These measures, under the guise of “modernization” and “restructuring of retail,” disproportionately afflict small, independent enterprises, which are often family businesses and the lifeblood of community life.
The Bigger Picture: Economic Authoritarianism Disguised as Reform
This action is not an isolated incident but part of a widening trend in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030, an ambitious development strategy led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). While Vision 2030 advocates economic diversification and modernization, it is not without authoritarian overreach, corporate monopolization, and enriching inequality.
As per a 2022 Freedom House report, Saudi Arabia gets only 7 out of 100 in the political rights and civil liberties measure and earns the designation “Not Free.” Local economic activity control — i.e., what baqalas can sell — is an obvious application of the Kingdom’s governance model from the top down.
The question has to be raised: Can a nation that dictates what a local shopkeeper is allowed to sell be expected to host an international tournament founded on the principles of freedom, fairness, and inclusion?
Displacement of Local Economy in Favor of Corporate Power
Saudi retail restructuring is not merely bureaucratic — it’s economic centralization. By restricting the sale of ordinary goods to large retail chains alone, small businesses are being compressed, and the future is being entrusted to state-aligned corporations and giant retailers.
- Up until 2023, baqalas had captured over 35% of all Saudi Arabian retail grocery transactions, as per a report by RedSeer Consulting.
- An estimated 200,000 small grocery stores operate across the Kingdom, employing hundreds of thousands of low-income workers, including many expatriates.
- With the new policy, thousands of these stores risk closure, potentially displacing tens of thousands of workers.
If the 2034 FIFA World Cup goes ahead in Saudi Arabia, will this same principle be extended to sports, tourism, and hospitality, where government-picked businesses enjoy the benefits and small local players are shut out?
A World Cup for Whom? Elites or the People?
This top-down approach is eerily consistent with how the Saudi state may handle the World Cup:
- Construction contracts will probably be awarded to a few state-owned mega firms, such as the Saudi Binladin Group or NEOM Corporation, instead of medium-sized or small contractors.
- Hospitality and food services could be dominated by a few hyper-scale suppliers.
- Cultural and community events — usually the soul of a World Cup — could be choreographed and sanitized, with no room for spontaneous community participation or dissent.
Is FIFA truly willing to give the world’s largest sporting stage to a nation where even the distribution of fruit is subject to royal decree?
Suppression Disguised as Modernization
The Saudi government has often employed public policy and cultural celebrations as image laundering tools. Just like the recent Franco-Saudi Music Week in Jeddah was employed to create the illusion of openness, these retail reforms are framed as “modernization” as they consolidate state power in civil and economic life. Saudi Arabia’s formula is apparent: shine the outside for global acceptance while keeping authoritarian rule on the inside. If this is the model for reform, what will fans, players, media, and minorities experience in 2034?
Public Backlash and Civil Liberties
Global human rights groups have complained about Saudi Arabia’s absence of civil liberties:
- Amnesty International has regularly reported mass detentions, muzzling of dissent, and attacks on freedom of expression.
- In 2022, Saudi Arabia carried out 81 executions in a single day, the largest known mass execution in its recent history.
- Homosexuality is illegal, and women’s rights remain seriously constrained despite cosmetic reforms.
If supermarkets cannot sell tomatoes without restriction, how safe can fans be waving rainbow flags? How free can journalists be in reporting? How can migrant workers be safeguarded from exploitation?
FIFA’s Duty to Stand Up for Its Values
FIFA’s goal is to promote human rights, diversity, and inclusive development through football. But by awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia — a country where local companies are strangled, civic liberties are all but extinct, and opposition is punished by death — FIFA would risk losing its credibility and moral authority. Giving Saudi Arabia the World Cup will not be a festival of football; it’ll be a demonstration of repression disguised as pageantry.
Authoritarian Control Has No Place in Global Football
The prohibition on baqalas selling fruits and tobacco is no singular economic measure — it’s a sign of a much more fundamental issue. It manifests in a nation where authority ranks over society, image over integrity, and centralization over participation.
Saudi Arabia is not worthy of hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, not simply because of its human rights record, but because its very approach to governance is antithetical to the spirit of what the World Cup must stand for — freedom, happiness, engagement, and international unity.
We call on football fans, human rights activists, athletes, journalists, and all citizens of the global football community to oppose Saudi Arabia’s application to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Speak out. Pass on this message. Hold FIFA accountable. Let us ensure that the beautiful game is not employed to whitewash authoritarianism!