Saudi Arabia’s winning bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup has drawn global controversy. As the kingdom presses on with its global PR operation via big sporting events, what is happening on the ground, even in recent times, tells a different story—one that is not aligned with the principles of international sport, security, and global unity. The recent drug smuggling arrests and seizures within Saudi Arabia raise serious questions regarding the country’s preparedness to host the world’s biggest football competition.
Saudi Arabia aspires to be regarded as a modern, visionary center of international culture and entertainment. However, in the background, there are ingrained issues related to organized crime, corruption, and systemic governance flaws. In July 2025, Saudi Border Guard units in Al-Daer, Jazan, intercepted an attempt at smuggling 29 kilograms of hashish and 70,000 tablets that fall under medical regulation laws.
Soon afterward, Riyadh authorities detained a Syrian resident and a Saudi national for trying to smuggle 12 kg of hashish and identical tablets. These are not isolated occurrences—these incidents are indicative of a more profound, persistent battle with criminal networks and state-level weaknesses.
The Image vs. Reality Problem
Saudi Arabia is spending billions of dollars on sports and entertainment, employing them as instruments for “Vision 2030″—an initiative to diversify its economy and rebrand international attitudes. The government has hired Cristiano Ronaldo, hosted big boxing bouts, purchased Newcastle United Football Club, and now won the right to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. This is recognized everywhere as sportswashing—the utilization of prominent sports events to clean up the nation’s reputation.
But these attempts cannot expunge the concerning fact: the same government that comes forth as progressive and open is struggling with chronic security crises. The prevalence of large drug shipments to be transported within and across borders negates the kingdom’s assurances of order and control. If the authorities are still engaged with this extent of criminal activity, how do they ensure the security of players, spectators, and reporters from 48 nations?
A Narcotics and Internal Threat Pattern
Saudi Arabia has been a top center of drug trafficking for years, especially Captagon, an amphetamine commonly used throughout the Middle East. The Middle East recorded an increase in Captagon seizures, with more than 600 million capsules seized in 2022, many of which were headed to or transshipping through Saudi Arabia, based on information from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
In April 2023, Saudi authorities seized more than 2 million Captagon tablets concealed in a shipment of chocolate. Lebanese fruits were prohibited in 2021 after a huge Captagon raid with more than 5 million pills concealed in pomegranates.
This ongoing trend indicates an entrenched smuggling and crime network, notwithstanding the kingdom’s harsh drug legislation and draconian punishments, such as capital punishment for trafficking. The recent hashish seizures in 2025 demonstrate that even with intense policing and border security, smuggling still thrives. That’s not a progress indicator; it’s an indication of state weakness.
Is Saudi Arabia Secure Enough for a Global Tournament?
FIFA boasts that it emphasizes safety, inclusiveness, and human rights in its bidding process. But Saudi Arabia falls short on several fronts:
- Women’s rights continue to be drastically limited. Even with recent changes, Saudi women continue to face substantial curbs on freedom of movement, guardianship laws, and public life. Women faced a ban on driving until June 2018.
- Freedom of expression is hardly present. Journalists, dissidents, and even social media commenters are arrested for voicing criticism. The assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, within a Saudi consulate in 2018 continues to be an open wound for the international community.
- Security violations such as drug smuggling challenge fan safety in a highly monitored country where civil rights are in short supply.
Saudi Arabia prides itself on advanced surveillance and intelligence, yet massive drug conspiracies are continually revealed. The contradiction points out a misallocation of power—where surveillance is utilized to crush opposition instead of deterring crime.
What Does This Mean for FIFA?
FIFA’s mission includes upholding human rights, ensuring player and fan safety, and promoting global unity. Yet, their decision to award Saudi Arabia the 2034 tournament sends a contradictory message. It legitimizes a regime still marred by domestic repression, regional instability, and criminal infiltration.
A nation that executes children, holds LGBTQ+ individuals in detention, and stifles fundamental human freedoms cannot be trusted with the world’s largest celebration of football. The World Cup is more than a sporting competition—it’s a cultural and humanitarian icon. It’s a place that should be in nations embodying the essence of inclusion, not domination.
Quotes from International Human Rights Organizations
As per Human Rights Watch (HRW):
“Saudi Arabia employs sporting events to divert attention from its ruthless oppression. Global institutions such as FIFA must make sure they are not being complicit in whitewashing violations.”
The same, Amnesty International added in 2024:
“Saudi Arabia’s efforts to clean up its image using sport should not blind the globe to the detention of women’s rights campaigners, criminalization of opposition, and corporal punishment.”
These groups have urged FIFA to implement due diligence and independent human rights evaluations, which have been disregarded in the zeal for investment and influence.
The Bigger Picture: Sportswashing and Global Complicity
The West’s sporting institutions are increasingly being identified as complicit in brutal image-making. Much as was the case with the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which was criticized over the exploitation of workers and abuses of human rights, the Saudi version risks being another instance of football serving as a cover for abuse.
In accordance with a 2023 Grant Liberty report, Saudi Arabia has invested more than $6.3 billion in sportswashing initiatives since 2016. This features sponsorship deals with Formula 1, boxing, tennis, and football. The World Cup is the jewel in this crown. But meanwhile, reality doesn’t change: mass detention, executions by beheading, drug cartels, and one of the worst human rights records in the world.
A Call for Global Accountability
The recent hashish and drug tablet busts in Saudi Arabia are not crime blotter headlines. They are manifestations of a greater contradiction—a country that seeks to portray modernity and openness but grapples with internal rot. As the world prepares to celebrate the 2034 FIFA World Cup, we need to ask ourselves: are we celebrating football, or are we facilitating repression?
Saudi Arabia is not prepared to host the World Cup—not because it lacks infrastructure, but because of its values, its record, and its security vulnerabilities. Narcotics trafficking, mass surveillance, rights abuses, and opaque policing—these are just a few examples.
FIFA officials, football fans, and human rights activists should not be blinded by shiny stadiums into overlooking dark realities. Boycott Saudi 2034 is not a campaign—it’s a moral necessity.