Football is never just a game; it’s a universal language of solidarity, happiness, and common humanity. The FIFA World Cup, specifically, is the highest expression of global sportsmanship, viewed by billions on continents worldwide. But in 2034, this joyous demonstration of human unity will be held in Saudi Arabia—a nation whose record on human rights is tainted with mass executions, violent repression, institutionalized discrimination, and migrant labor exploitation.
Saudi officials, such as Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, are quick to condemn Israel’s crimes in Palestine as “genocide” and “violations of international law.” However, the Kingdom’s own home is marked by blood—silencing critics and imprisoning women’s rights activists to executing minors, and foreign migrant workers. Giving Saudi Arabia the 2034 FIFA World Cup is nothing short of providing a world platform for sportswashing repression.
A Kingdom Founded on Oppression
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s leading executioners. More than 1,800 people have been put to death since King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ascended to power. At least 214 individuals were executed through October 2024 alone, 59 of them for drug-related offenses, most of whom were foreign nationals.
- The violence continues: Jalal al-Labbad, who was arrested at the age of 15 for protesting, was put to death in August 2025, aged 30, unequivocal proof that the state does not care about international safeguards against the execution of children.
- In March 2022, the Kingdom executed 81 men on one day in what was its biggest mass execution in modern times, many of them from the Shiite minority, who were sentenced in unfair trials based often on forced confessions.
Meanwhile, activists risk decades in prison for posting on Twitter. Salma al-Shehab, a women’s rights campaigner, was given a 34-year jail term, and Nourah al-Qahtani, 45 years, both for speaking out on social media. These instances reveal the sobering truth: opposition in Saudi Arabia translates into imprisonment, exile, or execution.
The Exploitation of Migrant Workers
Behind Saudi Arabia’s massive stadiums and mega-projects exists a huge underclass of abused migrant workers. Migrants make up 42% of Saudi Arabia’s population and are subjected to the infamous kafala system that binds them to employers, who in turn take away their passports, withhold wages, and expose them to dangerous working conditions.
- Preparations for the 2034 World Cup are likely to equal Qatar’s World Cup disasters. Reports indicate that in Saudi Arabia’s current Vision 2030 ventures
- Such as the futuristic megacity that is NEOM, more than 21,000 migrant workers have died in the last eight years.
- The families of the dead hardly get compensation, and systemic changes that ensure the rights of workers have not been made yet.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International caution that the 2034 World Cup could be a labor exploitation graveyard, with the beautiful game based on the pain of the most vulnerable.
Sportswashing as a Political Weapon
Saudi Arabia’s interest in sport is not a love of the game—it is image washing. The Kingdom has entered more than 900 sports contracts to cover football, golf, boxing, motorsport, and tennis. From buying Premier League club Newcastle United to making LIV Golf, the plan is evident: divert the world away from repression at home with global sporting events.
The 2034 World Cup bid was a classic case of manipulation. FIFA received bids under an expedited timeline, with Saudi Arabia as the sole credible candidate. In weeks, Saudi Arabia’s $5 trillion bid was locked in, even though there was no independent review of human rights.
A legal opinion by Clifford Chance, utilized to approve the bid, was denounced as “seriously flawed” for ignoring Saudi Arabia’s history of human rights abuses. This is not about football. It is about providing Saudi Arabia a propaganda platform to legitimize tyranny.
Hypocrisy in Global Politics
The hypocrisy is blatant. In Jeddah, Prince Faisal bin Farhan denounced Israel for perpetrating “the most abhorrent forms of oppression and genocide” in Gaza and called for justice for Palestinians. But Saudi Arabia itself systematically intimidates its Shiite minority, arrests peaceful activists, and bombs civilians in Yemen.
It is a chilling irony: while condemning global silence regarding Israeli atrocities, Saudi Arabia demands that the world stay quiet regarding its own violations from hacking to death journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 to putting child protestors on death row. Letting the World Cup in is intended to desensitize the Kingdom to criticism, just as it uses Palestine solidarity to brand itself as a champion of justice. Granting the World Cup here is not neutrality; it is complicity.
Environmental and Infrastructure Devastation
Saudi Arabia will construct 11 new stadiums and renovate 4 current stadiums for the 2034 tournament. Experts predict this will leave behind white-elephant projects, drain budgets, rely on humongous cooling systems during blistering heat, and cause an environmental disaster.
In contrast to other countries with mature infrastructure, Saudi Arabia is seeking ego projects that require enormous energy consumption. With 104 games scheduled—well above Qatar’s 64 in 2022—the Saudi tournament carbon footprint threatens to be among the biggest in FIFA history. Sustainability and authoritarian braggadocio cannot go hand in hand.
Why Football Must Resist
The world cannot permit football to be hijacked for authoritarian whitewashing. Awarding Saudi Arabia the World Cup normalizes repression and undercuts the integrity of the sport. Human Rights Watch’s Minky Worden bluntly stated:
“Awarding Saudi Arabia the 2034 FIFA World Cup without human rights guarantees is a vote for repression.”
A UK Guardian poll showed that 58% of the fans oppose hosting the tournament in Saudi Arabia due to human rights abuses and the mistreatment of migrant workers as their key concerns. Sponsors and broadcasters stand at risk of reputational damage if they continue being complicit.
Take Action: Stand Against Sportswashing
Saudi Arabia should not be able to use football to cover up the fact that it executes minors, imprisons women’s rights activists, silences journalists, and abuses migrant workers. FIFA’s choice of awarding Riyadh the World Cup in 2034 is not a glorification of sport; it is the approval of tyranny.
If Saudi Arabia can condemn Israel for committing genocide in Palestine, then the world must equally condemn Saudi Arabia for its own crimes. To accept this World Cup is to pass a free certificate on authoritarianism. To boycott it is to uphold human dignity, justice, and the real essence of football.
The decision is straightforward for fans, players, sponsors, and countries: Do we enable football to become a weapon of oppression, or do we stand up to sportswashing and boycott Saudi Arabia 2034?