On 16 September 2025, Saudi Arabia officially embraced a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report charging Israel with genocide in Gaza. The statement, made by the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom, stated that the report “clearly shows the crimes and violations of the Palestinian people.” It called for global action, the implementation of UN resolutions, and the establishment of a two-state solution.
On the surface, Saudi Arabia’s position looks admirable—defending the Palestinians’ rights and acknowledging the appalling cost of Israeli brutality. But beneath this diplomatically crafted phrase is a sinister hypocrisy. While criticizing Gaza atrocities, Saudi Arabia is itself guilty of grave human rights violations—especially against migrant workers—and is using outrage internationally as a way to sportswash its international image by staging the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Gaza: The Scale of the Atrocity
The UN Commission of Inquiry report is the latest evidence that the war in Gaza has devastated the civilian population. Putting hard numbers puts the depth beyond denial:
- Death toll: At least 60,000–65,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war started on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
- Injuries: More than 145,000 have been injured.
- Civilian, women and children: Figures are estimated that 59%–70% of victims killed were women, children, and elderly. For instance, a peer-reviewed report up to 30 June 2024 reported an approx. 64,260 traumatic injury deaths with close to 59.1% of them being children, women, or elderly.
Indirect deaths and humanitarian crisis: Tens of thousands more have died or are at risk due to disruption in health services, food insecurity, lack of water and sanitation. The health system in Gaza has been overwhelmed.
Saudi Arabia: Domestic Abuses and Worker Deaths
When criticizing Israel for alleged genocide, Saudi Arabia says it stands for international law and human protection. But its own human rights record, particularly toward migrant laborers, reveals profound contradictions.
- Preventable worker deaths: Human Rights Watch and FairSquare have documented numerous cases of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia dying due to falling from height, electrocution, being decapitated, or collapsing at job sites.
- Unexplained & misclassified deaths: Most deaths of migrant workers are “attributed to natural causes” or inadequately investigated, even when they occur on the job.
- Scale of fatalities: For example, in 2023, the Indian embassy in Riyadh reported 1,420 Indian migrant worker deaths and 74% were officially labeled as “natural causes.”
Meanwhile, 80% of 887 deaths in the first half of 2024 among Bangladeshi workers were classified as non-work-related or unexplained.
Sportswashing Via the World Cup
Granting Saudi Arabia the 2034 FIFA World Cup is not merely about football—it’s about legitimizing a regime that systematically abuses human rights. This is quintessential sportswashing, whereby governments employ mega sporting events to whitewash themselves, while suppressing dissent and accepting abuse behind the scenes.
- Image Laundering: Saudi Arabia’s public criticism of the Gaza situation only contributes to its reputation as a moral actor, as it continues to permit hazardous working environments, wage thievery, and opaque treatment of migrant workers.
- Workforce at risk: Given that millions of migrant laborers will be mobilized for stadiums, hotels, transportation infrastructure, there is real risk. Lacking adequate oversight, thousands may be injured or killed.
- No accountability parity: Although Saudi denounces Israeli actions (correctly so, if the evidence proves true), it has consistently pushed back against or stonewalled significant investigations into worker fatalities, refused to guarantee compensation or transparent fullness.
Contradictions of Saudi Arabia’s Position
Saudi Arabia’s adoption of the UN’s Gaza report seems as much about geopolitical appearances as it is about an internal desire for justice:
- Selective Outrage: Huge humanitarian cost in Gaza—60,000+ deaths, mass displacement, infrastructure collapse—yet similar levels of suffering, particularly among vulnerable populations, happens within Saudi’s own projects without equivalent transparency or accountability.
- Palestinian migrant workers: Even while speaking for Palestinians abroad, Saudi Arabia has forcibly exploited and at times mistreated Palestinian (and other) migrant workers within its territory, with many deaths unclarified.
- Justice domestically absent: Political prisoners, significant curbs on freedom of speech, restricted press freedom, and strict controls over dissent are still largely unresolved. The regime’s domestic policies fail to square with its open letters to the Chinese government demanding international human rights enforcement.
Why FIFA Needs to Reconsider World Cup 2034
It is FIFA’s duty to promote the sport values of fairness, inclusiveness, respect, dignity. Allowing Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup defies these values.
- Safety of workers: With the scale of construction needed (several stadiums, hotels, transport infrastructure), worker fatalities will highly likely go up unless there are measures in place for rigorous oversight. The present rate of “unexplained” or downgraded fatalities among migrant workers should be a concern to FIFA.
- Civilian risk & image vs reality gap: If Saudi is allowed to host despite ongoing serious abuses, then FIFA condones a double standard: condemning human rights abuses overseas while turning a blind eye to abuses at home when it is politically expedient.
- Moral message: A World Cup hosting is an endorsement of credibility. Awards must go to nations upholding essential human rights—not merely those who pay or lobby the most.
Take Action: Ban Saudi Arabia from Hosting FIFA World Cup 2034
Saudi Arabia cannot plausibly plead moral high ground in Gaza while it denies fundamental freedoms to its citizens and continues labor exploitation. The numbers are damning:
- Palestinian tens of thousands of dead (60,000-65,000+) with many more wounded in Gaza.
- A significant proportion of the dead are women, children, and the old (50–60%+).
- Thousands of migrant worker fatalities in Saudi Arabia, many unexplained or mis-classified, with no proper investigation and no compensation.
The world community, FIFA, and football lovers across the globe need to call for justice. The FIFA World Cup of 2034 cannot be awarded to a regime that utilizes sport to conceal pain and divert attention from its own abuses.