Saudi Arabia’s government recently sparked attention with its bid to recycle building and demolition waste for use in asphalt for road construction — a move it argues will be green and cost-saving. It is part of the Kingdom’s wider Vision 2030 strategy, a high-profile initiative to reform Saudi Arabia’s global brand into one of innovation, modernization, and openness.
But let us be honest: asphalt roads and recycling regulations don’t undo decades of repression, extremism, and authoritarianism. These public relations maneuvers are all part of a larger plan to rebrand the Kingdom — but not to reform it. And behind this rebranding campaign is Saudi Arabia’s successful bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034.
This isn’t merely a sporting choice — it’s an ethical failure. Allying with Saudi Arabia to host one of the world’s most renowned events is a conspicuous endorsement of a government that is opposed to the very ideals FIFA purports to uphold: freedom, inclusion, equality, and integrity.
Authoritarianism Behind the Facade of Progress
Saudi Arabia is still among the world’s most authoritarian regimes. It’s controlled by an unelected monarchy headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has broad powers over all of Saudi society. Political parties are outlawed. Protests are illegal. Critics are imprisoned, tortured, or killed.
Freedom House ranks Saudi Arabia only 7 out of 100 in its freedom index, labeling the Kingdom as “Not Free.” On its most recent report, the organization explained,
“The Saudi government suppresses nearly all political opposition and tightly restricts civil liberties, especially freedom of expression, assembly, association, and belief.”
The 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was a heart-stopping reminder of the extent to which the regime will go to silence opposition voices. The CIA concluded with high confidence that Crown Prince MBS sanctioned the assassination — but he remains free.
Systemic Human Rights Violations
In its efforts to present itself as modernized, Saudi Arabia has instituted modest social reforms — including permitting women drivers or cinemas. But these are calculated and superficial gestures. Behind them is a vicious system of repression.
- Women’s rights continue to be severely limited. Male guardianship rules continue to pervade large areas of women’s lives, from marriage to travel. Despite the amendments in 2019.
- LGBTQ+ individuals face legal punishment, social ostracization, and even death in extreme cases. Homosexuality is illegal and considered a criminal offense.
- Religious minorities, such as Shi’a Muslims and non-Muslims, often suffer discrimination, surveillance, and persecution.
- Freedom of expression is nonexistent. Activists like Raif Badawi and Loujain al-Hathloul have been imprisoned and tortured simply for advocating peaceful reforms.
As reported by Human Rights Watch, the government of Saudi Arabia “intensified its repression of dissent in 2023, detaining and prosecuting people for their peaceful expression online or in public.”
Saudi Arabia and the Promotion of Extremism
Saudi Arabia is not only a repressive domestic regime — it has also been long linked to exporting extremist ideologies internationally. For decades, the Kingdom has spent billions of dollars advertising Wahhabism, an ultra-conservative form of Islam, in mosques, madrassas, and Islamic centers around the globe.
A 2002 report by the RAND Corporation concluded that institutions funded by Saudi Arabia were a major source of ideological material for extremist movements, including Al-Qaeda. Most recently, WikiLeaks-leaked cables from the U.S. State Department referred to Saudi Arabia as
“the most important source of funds to Sunni terrorists in the world.”
Even though the government has moved to stem extremist funding in response to global pressure, the ideological heritage is strong, and the state’s repression remains a fertile ground for radicalization.
Granting the FIFA World Cup to such a nation is not just tone-deaf — it legitimates a system that sustains the very sources of extremism the international community is seeking to decimate.
The Sportswashing Strategy
Saudi Arabia’s passion for the international sport is not motivated by affection for the game — it’s motivated by a strategic practice called sportswashing. Through staging international sporting events such as Formula One races, boxing bouts, and now the FIFA World Cup, the regime hopes to present a modern, tolerant face to the world while deflecting attention away from its entrenched, deep-structural abuses.
This approach is modeled on the playbooks of other non-democracies. Russia staged the 2018 World Cup during its annexation of Crimea and crackdown on opposition. Qatar, with all its controversy over labor rights, hosted in 2022 World Cup. Saudi Arabia’s record, however, is unique in its extent, magnitude, and duplicity.
The new road-construction project employing recycled materials is just another part of the same image-building campaign. It seeks to demonstrate to the world that Saudi Arabia is embracing innovation and sustainability — but it’s just another level of finely crafted propaganda.
FIFA’s Contradictions and Moral Failure
FIFA’s own Human Rights Policy, which it adopted in 2017, binds the organization to “respecting internationally recognized human rights.” It promises to steer clear of being associated with human rights abuses and ensure transparency and equity. But what can FIFA do to keep that promise and grant the 2034 World Cup to a regime that:
- Publicly executes prisoners, with 147 executions being carried out in 2023 alone, reports Amnesty International.
- Criminalizes fundamental freedoms and threatens peaceful protesters with lengthy prison sentences or torture? It even includes 15 to 17-year-olds.
- Advances gender discrimination and the criminalization of LGBTQ+
To host the world’s biggest sporting event in a country where inclusion is against the law and protest is fatal is to betray the values that international sport should stand for.
Global Football Must Take a Stand
The World Cup is not merely a competition — it is a manifestation of worldwide unity, happiness, and community spirit. In deciding that Saudi Arabia should host in 2034, FIFA is assisting in whitewashing the image of a regime that represses at home and exercises authoritarian soft power externally.
Civil society, human rights organizations, football associations, players, and spectators need to defy such normalization. The message needs to be unambiguous: no new roads, no recycled concrete, no PR spin can cover over injustice.