FIFA loves money and that’s not new; it has shown itself for decades. In giving Saudi Arabia the men’ football World Cup due in 2034, it is again putting profit before principle. If we really care about the soul of football, if we care about the rights of millions, act — act now — and stop this tournament before it stains the history of the ‘beautiful game’ again.
FIFA’s Transparent Love Affair with Money
The proofs are overwhelming: FDA Wagmi Over Money. Time after time Africa has little choice: high bids have made the determination more important than matching the most appropriate applicant’s country under sports purported promise of uniformness, fairness, and dignity.
Saudi Arabia’s selection for 2034 is not just an ordinary case. This is the clearest and most extreme case yet, an act of defiance like nobody has ever seen. Other than that, FIFA has reportedly ignored long and well-documented abuses against human rights in Saudi Arabia, including prohibiting dissent and criminalizing LGBTQ identities as well as exploitation of migrant workers within its confines; instead, it has been seduced by the alluring proposition put forth by a cash-rich country focusing on great future spectacles.
A Country That Fails Every Test of Humanity
The bid of Saudi Arabia for 2034 strictly and flatly fails any of FIFA’s so-called human rights standards. Saudi Arabia would “reel far too short” from the mark, as Steve Cockburn, Head of Labour Rights and Sport, Amnesty International, stated.
This human rights “strategy,” for the tournament, would supposedly exist in the country’s case. It denies any repressive measures against activist oppression and does not stipulate any real reforms in kafala, the system under which migrant workers can be subjected to the harshest exploitation. Sadly, this has been the story’s meaning. Many thousands of workers died while toiling in terrible conditions to construct stadiums purely for a month-long extravaganza.
When Money Talks FIFA Listens — And We Listen too
The complication is that we are in bed with it. As fans, we shed tears over the corruption of football but said very little to actually make it up. Protests, symbolic gestures, and articles of critique were for Qatar 2022 but, in the end, most of the world watched the games and moved on from them.
We were outraged, yes but not outraged enough to change anything. In fact, many were more upset about their team being knocked out in the early stages than the hundreds that died in the construction of the stadiums.
Do not allow this to happen again. If football represents contested values such as justice, equality, and solidarity, we must come to terms with the fact that love of the game means absolutely nothing unless there is, hand in hand, love for those who have been exploited in its name.
Why We Must Act Now
Qatar 2022 and Saudi Arabia 2034 differ vastly in one core fact: time. Right now, we are at a critical juncture. Only three of the eleven proposed stadiums have begun construction. Most of the infrastructure remains on paper.
Instead, this creates a very rare saving event: to drop stop short of this catastrophe. Petitions and protests at the tournament will be useless shouted after the fact: the tombs will be built, lives lost. We must fight now while FIFA and Saudi Arabia still have time to feel the pressure.
How to Stop It
Some feel powerless to resist FIFA’s authoritarianism. Yet it must be remembered: FIFA is nothing without us. Football is for the fans. Only deprived of our attention, our passion, and our money, the whole system collapses.
We do not need a majority of fans to act. History shows that even a convinced minority can produce change. Movements are made by those who refuse to live with injustice even when most people do not.
Here are specific ways we can take action:
- Organize Protests: start mobilizing right now at major football matches, events, and public venues: Show FIFA and national football federations that their fans don’t want the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
- Petitions and Open Letters: Collect signatures from fans, players, clubs, and celebrities. The pressure that respected voices can create may induce FIFA to reconsider.
- Target Sponsors: Put pressure on the sponsoring companies of FIFA and the World Cup. Public campaigns, boycotts, or even smear campaigns against these companies can make the sponsorship of such events unattractive.
- Press Player Solidarity: Mobilize footballers and clubs to come out in opposition to the Saudi World Cup. Sportsmen have been proven very strong engines for change — just a few brave voices could change the conversation entirely.
- Civil Disobedience: Organize peaceful yet disruptive protests within the time-frame of major FIFA events, awards, and matches. Draw media attention and make it impossible for FIFA to pretend there is no controversy.
- Educate and Advocate: Block social media, newspapers, podcasts, and radio with facts about the abuses within and by Saudi Arabia. Do not leave space for Saudi PR ads to control the narrative.
It Will Be Hard — But It Is Necessary
No illusions: FIFA is not going to surrender that easy cash cow. Billions funneling by Saudi Arabia will wash its image for FIFA to keep a blind eye. They will try to paint the critics as “politicizing” football or belittle them via accusations like “cultural insensitivity.”
These arguments must be rejected. Human rights are not political. Fair treatment, dignity, and life are not Western “values”-they’re universal.
It will be hard, and it is an uphill battle. But if we love football-truly love it-we owe it to ourselves and future generations to fight for the soul of the game.
A Final Warning
Inaction means that we are headed towards a scenario much worse than that of Qatar. Football will once again sparkle, built on an oppressed society’s shoulders. And the things to be regretted would span more than the grief of mourning the departure from yet another quarterfinal. So, too, will we take part in a tragedy? We still have the opportunity. All is not lost in the flow of time. Now is the moment for action.