Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 has sparked global controversy rooted in the country’s extensive human rights violations. The bid is widely seen as an attempt at sports washing, a strategy where countries use major sports events to improve their international image while diverting attention from egregious abuses. Given Saudi Arabia’s documented violations including mass executions, suppression of free speech, and systemic discrimination, awarding the World Cup to the Kingdom raises serious ethical and governance concerns.
Human rights violations in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s mortal rights record in 2025 has been marked by an intimidating escalation in state- sanctioned prosecutions, with authorities carrying out at least 241 people by August 5, including a swell of 22 in the antedating week alone, surpassing former periodic records if the pace continued. This surge included the prosecution of intelligencer Turki al- Jasser on June 14 for exposing royal family corruption, the first similar case since Jamal Khashoggi’s 2018 murder, alongside 162 individualities for nonlethal medicine- related offenses and over half being foreign citizens from countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Syria.
From January to June 2025, 180 prosecutions passed, with June alone seeing 46, of which 37 were medicine- related comprising further than one per day and 34 involving foreign citizens, pressing vulnerabilities in Saudi courts where due process is routinely absent, similar as constrained admissions and lack of legal representation. Bymid-year, over 100 foreign citizens had been executed, erecting on 2024’s record 345 total prosecutions, the loftiest in 30 times, with 35 tied to medicines despite transnational proscriptions on capital discipline for similar crimes.
These numbers stem from” tazir” optional penalties, comprising 47.5 of 1,816 prosecutions from 2014 to June 2025, frequently applied tonon-violent acts amid systemic demarcation against Shia nonages, as seen in previous mass events like the 81 prosecutions on March 12, 2022, where 41 were Shia. Beyond prosecutions, torture remains current, with defendants facing physical abuse and forced” admissions” in trials lacking translucency or appeal rights, violating UN conventions Saudi Arabia has ratified.
What is Sportswashing?
Sportswashing refers to the practice by authoritarian administrations or realities with problematic reports of hosting major sports events to produce a facade of currentness and legality. By rallying global attention around prestigious events like the FIFA World Cup, these administrations seek to mask their ongoing oppression, therefore abstracting the global community and implicit critics.
Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 and the World Cup bid
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 forms the backbone of the Kingdom’s profitable and social reform docket, launched with the goal of reducing its heavy dependence on oil painting earnings while fostering a diversified and sustainable frugality. A vital part of this metamorphosis is the expansion and internationalization of the sports and entertainment sectors, which Saudi leaders see as pivotal avenues for profitable growth, job creation, and global soft power protuberance. The Kingdom’s shot to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 fits exactly within this broader strategy, showcasing the use of sports as a major tool in its Vision 2030 design.
The Vision 2030 sports strategy revolves around several core pillars: upgrading world- class sports structure, boosting grassroots gift development, nurturing a competitive domestic league, and attracting major transnational sporting events. To date, Saudi Arabia has invested over $6 billion in sports enterprises since 2021, transubstantiating the country from a indigenous sports follower into a global sports destination.
By hosting further than 50 transnational sporting events in 2023 alone and drawing over 2.5 million callers to these events, the Kingdom has begun to fulfill its pledge of sports- led profitable diversification. The sports sector’s donation to Saudi Arabia’s GDP has grown fleetly, with projections estimating earnings of 22 billion SAR by 2030, over from 8 billion SAR just a many times prior. This growth is anticipated to produce further than 130,000 new jobs, significantly bolstering the private sector’s part in the frugality and reducing oil painting reliance.
The controversy surrounding FIFA’s awarding process
FIFA’s awarding process for World Cup hosting rights has been marred by repeated difficulties and allegations of corruption, bias, and neglect of mortal rights considerations. The contesting of the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Mugs to Russia and Qatar, independently, has tainted the global perception of FIFA’s governance and integrity. Despite multitudinous examinations revealing dubious conditioning ranging from vote trading to impact hawking the association constantly failed to insure translucency or adequately prioritize ethical considerations when opting host nations. These dishonors have led to wide review that FIFA frequently prioritizes fiscal impulses and political alliances over the core values of fair play and mortal rights.
The selection of Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup follows an analogous pattern and highlights intimidating durations in FIFA’s governance. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have described Saudi Arabia’s mortal rights record as profoundly disquieting, marked by rampant prosecutions, repression of free speech, and structural demarcation against women and nonages. Awarding such a country FIFA’s flagship event not only ignores these proven abuses but also implicitly legitimizes and normalizes authoritarian practices. This decision is perceived by numerous as a severance from any commitment FIFA might claim to have toward mortal rights norms in its bidding and hosting evaluations.
The impact of hosting sports events in authoritarian countries
While hosting transnational sporting events can drive profitable development and global recognition, it risks legitimizing administrations with rough programs. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the concern is that the World Cup would be used as a political tool to silence opposition, color abuses, and undermine sweats to hold the governance responsible for its conduct.
Calls for boycott and ethical alternatives
Human rights associations and activists worldwide have called for a boycott of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup shot. They argue that transnational sporting bodies like FIFA must uphold mortal rights norms and not become enablers of political whitewashing. Alternatives emphasize awarding the World Cup to countries with a stronger commitment to mortal rights and ethical governance.
A dangerous strategy
Saudi Arabia’s bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034 embodies the dangerously strategic use of sportswashing to divert attention from severe human rights violations. Given the Kingdom’s alarming record of executions, suppression of free speech, and systemic discrimination, legitimizing its bid through the World Cup would undermine global human rights advocacy and damage the integrity of international sport. A boycott offers a viable means for holding FIFA and Saudi Arabia accountable, discouraging the use of sport for political cover-ups and championing the true spirit of fair play on and off the field.