Saudi Arabia’s new vanity project, the $1.4 billion Qiddiya City Performing Arts Centre, is being hailed as an emblem of contemporary innovation and cultural advancement. Situated on the periphery of the Tuwaiq Mountains and boasting three theatres of international standard and a cantilevered amphitheatre, the centre will be designed to stage more than 200 events annually. It is part of Qiddiya City, which is one of Vision 2030’s key developments, the same national vision under which Saudi Arabia acquired hosting rights for the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
To most, Qiddiya appears like an advancement, a high-tech entertainment complex where art, sports, and innovation converge. But to human rights activists and monitors, this is a masterfully crafted diversion. Qiddiya has nothing to do with cultural freedom; it has everything to do with managing the narrative. It is yet another installment in Saudi Arabia’s global sportswashing and cultural-washing project — a bid to deflect repression behind spectacle.
The Illusion of Modernization
The Qiddiya Performing Arts Centre, a futuristic facility with world-class aspirations, sends the message of openness and cultural revival. But behind this gilded facade, the same government remains in the business of squashing dissent, silencing artists, and punishing free speech.
Saudi Arabia’s leaders want to persuade the world that the Kingdom is modernizing, from a traditional monarchy to a cosmopolitan nation. But that modernization is skin-deep. More theatres and stadiums are springing up than laws are changing. Behind the veneer of modernization is an unremitting cycle of human rights abuses.
Saudi Arabia put to death more than 170 people in 2023, one of the globe’s highest per capita tallies, Amnesty International reported. Most of them were political prisoners or dissidents. Freedom of expression is strictly controlled, and artists, women’s rights activists, and reporters are regularly detained for expressing themselves.
And so while Qiddiya offers stages for creativity and global dialogue, the truth is that Saudi Arabia’s actual artists, the artists who question authority continue to be voiceless.
Vision 2030: Progress or Propaganda?
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan has been widely referred to as an economic diversification strategy to eliminate oil dependency. In reality, though, Vision 2030 is a state propaganda initiative, meant to redefine global perception rather than local reality.
Initiatives such as Neom, The Red Sea Project, and Diriyah Gate, and now Qiddiya are all part of an integrated approach to the development of “showcase cities” that mark reform outwardly while ensuring authoritarianism inwardly.
Every new skyscraper, cultural center, or mega stadium is part of an international branding effort designed to persuade investors, corporations, and institutions (such as FIFA) that Saudi Arabia is an “advanced” and “reformist” state deserving to be a part of the global spotlight. Modernization without liberty is not advancement — it’s advertising. And Vision 2030 is, first and foremost, an advertising campaign.
The Link Between Qiddiya and the FIFA World Cup
At the heart of Qiddiya is the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, an enormous complex set to be among the principal venues for the 2034 FIFA World Cup. The stadium, along with the new performing arts center, is part of an overall story: Saudi Arabia desires to be a shining example of global culture and sport.
The World Cup, traditionally a party of unity and openness, could become a public relations success for an authoritarian regime. Qiddiya’s art, tourism, and sport blend represents a tastefully built deception, a world of concerts, festivals, and matches concealing the brutality of the regime.
This synergy between politics and entertainment is calculated. Saudi Arabia realizes that cultural buzz creates good headlines, silencing accounts of imprisoned dissidents, exploited migrant workers, and censorship. Through investment in sports and leisure to the tune of billions, the regime attempts to swap criticism for applause.
Cultural Freedom Without Political Freedom Is a Myth
The Saudi state officially boasts of Qiddiya’s art center as a step towards constructing a “creative generation.” However, in Saudi law, creativity that defies religion, politics, or the monarchy continues to be criminal.
Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a human rights activist, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for tweets of satire in 2022. Artists such as Ashraf Fayadh, who questioned religious orthodoxy, have been sent to prison and even given death sentences.
How can a state that puts poets in prison and cuts art censorship claim to be the champion of creativity?
How can a country that prohibits peaceful protests host an international event built upon values of diversity, inclusion, and unity?
It is this hypocrisy that is at the crux of the boycott Saudi 2034 call. The issue isn’t that Saudi Arabia constructs theatres or stadiums — it’s that it constructs them in silence.
Economic Diversification Without Ethical Accountability
Saudi Arabia’s rulers maintain that Vision 2030 and initiatives like Qiddiya are central to the kingdom’s future. Economic diversification is necessary. But economic achievement without moral reform is empty.
The international community and groups like FIFA need to understand that hosting the World Cup in Saudi Arabia make a government that still cracks down on political freedoms, mistreats women, and persecutes minorities somehow legitimate.
In 2024, Freedom House rated Saudi Arabia 7 out of 100 for political rights and civil liberties, near the bottom in the world. All the investment in stadiums or theatres cannot alter that figure.
Why the World Must Boycott Saudi 2034?
Qiddiya City’s shiny skyline is a sign not of transformation, but of distraction. It is emblematic of how authoritarian states employ sport and art to whitewash their reputation.
Just as the performing arts center hopes to “redefine entertainment,” the 2034 FIFA World Cup hopes to redefine reputation — substituting world scrutiny with admiration.
But we cannot applaud oppression masquerading as innovation.
The world must say no to a World Cup predicated on censorship, exploitation, and silence.
The call to boycott Saudi 2034 is not anti-Saudi; it is pro-human rights. It demands that the global community hold nations accountable not for their architecture, but for their actions.
If Saudi Arabia wishes to become a genuine world leader in sport and culture, it has to first release its prisoners of conscience, stop labor exploitation, and tolerate true freedom of expression. Until such time, the world has to decline to go along with its fantasy.
Call to Action: Don’t Cheer for Repression
When Saudi Arabia opens its doors to the first match of the 2034 World Cup, the world’s cameras will bring forth blazing lights, erupting crowds, and new arenas such as those at Qiddiya. But behind those lights will be the shadows of the silenced — the activists, journalists, and workers who paid the true cost. Don’t let a football competition or a billion-dollar theatre distort history. Boycott Saudi 2034. Choose freedom, not masquerade.