The decision to award Saudi Arabia the 2034 FIFA World Cup is not just about football. It is a deeply political one, woven with questions of human rights, labor exploitation, and global image-making. Recent developments, including Saudi Arabia’s purchase of gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA), make it clearer than ever that this World Cup is part of a broader push. It is not just about hosting a sporting tournament but about remaking a regime. The following explains why the boycott Saudi 2034 campaign is imperative and urgent.
The EA Deal and the New Face of Sportswashing
In one of the most significant leveraged buyouts in history, amounting to 55 billion dollars, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), in association with Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners and Silver Lake, took over EA.
EA is the publisher behind the FIFA video game franchise. This implies Saudi Arabia will not only host the actual World Cup but may also have influence in virtual football environments that millions of players interact with.
This serves to broaden and make mainstream Saudi Arabia’s international entertainment and cultural presence. If anyone with a controller can be playing FIFA on a Saudi-tied investors’ game, that is a huge resource in conditioning how soccer and Saudi Arabia are connected in global minds.
In brief, the EA acquisition is not merely another corporate buyout. It illustrates how deeply Saudi Arabia is insinuating itself on all levels of sport, entertainment, and fandom. The World Cup of 2034 is just another move in this plan.
Abuses of Human Rights: The Profound Contradictions
Granting the World Cup to a nation with ongoing, well-documented abuses in contradiction to this undermines any pretense of “sport for all” or global unity.
Executions and Punitive Laws
- At least 330 people were executed by Saudi Arabia in 2024, the most in decades. Over 150 of the executions were for non-fatal offenses like drug use or so-called non-violent terrorism.
- At least 100 of those put to death were foreign citizens. Most were migrant workers from Asia and Africa with few legal protections.
- A total of 122 people were put to death for drug offenses, crimes which are not fatal and which most international human rights groups feel should not entail capital punishment.
Labor Exploitation and Migrant Workers
Saudi Arabia depends substantially on migrant labor from the South Asian and African regions. More than 10 million foreign workers reside in the Kingdom. Most of them are working on construction schemes associated with the infrastructure of the World Cup.
These workers are subjected to abuses like non-payment of wages, hazardous working conditions, passport confiscation, substitution of contracts, and being tied to the kafala sponsorship system under which their legal status and mobility are dependent upon their employer.
Free Speech, Women’s Rights, LGBTQ+ Issues
Political activists, journalists, and critics are frequently imprisoned, with allegations of torture and lengthy imprisonment for non-violent expression.
- Women’s rights are still limited under tutelage legislation. Female engagement with the public domain is growing, but equity is distant.
- LGBTQ+ relations are illegal, and the Saudi bid files mostly do not cover discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals.
Sportswashing: The Strategy Unmasked
Saudi Arabia is spending billions on sports, culture, and entertainment under its Vision 2030 plan to cut oil dependence and rebrand its international image. Much of this spending, however, is accused of being sportswashing. This is the application of sports glitz to mask rights violations.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund has spent at least 6.3 billion dollars on sports transactions since 2021.
The EA purchase is the latest in a series of long entertainment and sports industry acquisitions. They are not value-neutral. They enhance soft power, providing Saudi Arabia with leverage to cultural influence, prestige, and global legitimacy.
Mohammed bin Salman himself has owned up to the strategy. When accused of sportswashing, he reportedly declared,
“If sportswashing is going to add one percent to my GDP, then we will keep doing sportswashing. Call it what you like.”
The Human Cost is Real
All the risks outlined above are not speculative. They amount to actual suffering.
- The mortality rate of migrant workers is shocking. Between January and July 2024 alone, there were 884 Bangladeshi migrant worker deaths. And this is well before construction ramps up.
- Forced evictions are also to be expected as land is seized for infrastructure.
Kafala workers face arbitrary arrest, wage robbery, and passport seizure. These abuses have been documented extensively and reported time and time again.
Why a Boycott Matters
For most people, a World Cup is an occasion of celebration, pride, and international solidarity. But when hosting serves to cover up systemic abuses, it gets complicit with that system. A Saudi 2034 boycott has a number of effects.
Pressure for Reform
Global exposure entails global responsibility. If governments, sports organizations, and corporations are concerned with damage to their reputations or bottom lines, they can pressure Saudi Arabia to promote genuine, quantifiable reforms in labor law, human rights, judicial procedure, and equality.
Solidarity with the Vulnerable
Migrant workers, dissidents, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals can all be victimized under Saudi law. They have a right to have their voices not drowned out by stadium lights and sponsor logos.
Defending the Integrity of Sport
Sport can be more than a show. It can be for fairness, justice, and equality. Allowing Saudi Arabia’s bid to pass without a check trashes those values.
Preventing Future Abuse
If hosting a mega-event is reputationally expensive instead of simply profitable, future bidders will be less likely to use rights abuses. It could change the way FIFA and other sporting organizations screen hosts.
Stand with Justice, Not with Sportswashing
The 2034 FIFA World Cup, which is set to take place soon, is not merely a tournament. After EA’s acquisition by Saudi Arabia, its aggressive culture and sports investment, and its widely documented human rights abuses, hosting the tournament becomes part of a narrative prioritizing prestige at the cost of basic freedoms.
Boycotting Saudi 2034 is not an assault on football. It is a defense of football’s integrity and of simple human dignity. It is declaring that the values we have come to identify with international sport—fairness, respect, and the dignity of all people, count more than profit, spectacle, or propaganda.