There have been a lot of controversies surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2034 but it has been finally won by Saudi Arabia. Although the country has abundant financial resources, advanced infrastructure and modern facilities, its human rights record is a chief concern. Perhaps the most shocking matters relate to torture and unfair trials in the Saudi legal system. These practices are abuse of basic human rights and are in direct opposition to what FIFA stands for, such as justice, equality and fair play.
It is best to boycott Saudi 2034 FIFA World Cup because Saudi Arabia is definitely not the right host for FIFA World Cup 2034 for reasons of its gross systemic torture, heinous practices in absence of due process, and its endemic judicial abuses.
Saudi Arabia’s personal freedom of citizens is at an all time low. Authorities have long been accused of using torture to unearth confessions from detainees, especially people facing political or religious charges. International rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have reported multiple cases of people receiving brutal treatment in detention centres.
Prisoners in Saudi Arabia have given accounts of a range of torture methods, including:
These brutal methods and Saudi laws and punishment are often deployed to force confessions, which are then used as the primary evidence in trials that are not transparent. This practice is in direct conflict with FIFA’s pledge to respect human rights and fair treatment.
The Saudi justice system is infamous for its lack of due process, particularly in cases involving political dissent, human rights activism or allegations of terrorism. Allegations of secret trials, no access to legal defence and a clear inability to defend oneself are common.
Most trials in Saudi Arabia are heard behind closed doors, and defendants frequently do not know the charges against them until they come before the judge. The government often uses the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) to prosecute activists, journalists and opposition figures using vague charges like “disturbing public order” or “insulting the state.”
In some of the most well-known cases, people have received long prison sentences or even death after forced confessions obtained through torture. Saudi Arabia is thus fundamentally unfit to host an event that promotes fairness and justice because of this lack of transparency and fairness in its judicial system.
Many of the detainees, especially those charged with political crimes, are also deprived of lawyers. Even where legal representation is permissible, lawyers acting for the defense are subject to stringent limitations and cannot dispute evidence acquired under duress. In some instances, defense lawyers for political detainees have been themselves arrested.
And one of the most prominent human rights lawyers, Waleed Abu al-Khair, received a 15-year sentence for his work defending activists. Such legal oppression flies in the face of the values of justice that FIFA professes to champion.
Saudi Arabia has among the world’s highest execution rates, and many death sentences are imposed after unfair trials. Crime suspects, including those guilty of petty crimes, are very often convicted based on confession evidence obtained through torture.
It has carried out mass executions, at times executing dozens of people in a single day. In 2022, Saudi Arabia killed 81 people in a single day, many of them convicted in deeply flawed trials. Several of these men were sentenced to death on the basis of confessions extracted under torture.
Saudi Arabia has also executed minors in violation of international human rights standards. One of the most prominent examples of this is Ali al-Nimr, who was arrested at age 17 for taking part in protests and sentenced to death based on a confession obtained through torture. His sentence later was reduced, but many others have not been so lucky.
Such disregard for justice and human rights should alone disqualify Saudi Arabia from World Cup hosting — an event that is supposed to represent unification and fair play.
Saudi Arabia represses dissent as a matter of course, by engaging in arbitrary imprisonment, long prison sentences and even murder. The most infamous example was the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which drew international attention to the country’s vicious suppression of freedom of expression.
Saudi treatment of women has raised a lot of questions. Activists for women’s rights who fought for the right to drive or who called for reforms have been jailed, tortured and sentenced to long prison terms. Loujain al-Hathloul, a leading women’s rights activist, was arrested, tortured and sentenced to almost six years in prison for fighting for the most basic freedoms.
Political dissidents and peaceful organizers face imprisonment or much worse. In numerous instances, people have been incarcerated for merely commenting on social media critically. This pervasive clampdown is at odds with FIFA’s stated commitments to inclusivity and free expression.
FIFA is overlooking its own obligations under human rights standards by awarding the World Cup to Saudi Arabia. FIFA organization corruption is completely opposite the Human Rights Policy, created in 2017. It states directly that the organization will respect and promote human rights in all of its activities, such as country selection as host. But in giving the nod to Saudi Arabia — a nation infamous for torture, dreadful trials and extreme repression — FIFA is simply flouting those tenets.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in international sports, particularly football, Formula 1 and golf, form part of a broader method known as sportswashing — where the hosting of major sporting events is used to bolster its global face while the country continues human rights abuses in private. Corruption at FIFA has been the talk of the town and hosting the World Cup would give the Saudi government a chance to distract from its abuses, and promote itself as a progressive nation even in the face of ample evidence to the contrary.
A World Cup in Saudi Arabia would endanger players, fans and journalists. Because of the country’s track record of curtailing free speech, any perceived criticism of the government, L.G.B.T.Q.+ rights or human rights abuses could lead to arrests or severe punishment.
They could, journalists covering the tournament could be tired in prison even for writing sensitive topics. Fans making political statements, whether in stadiums or online, could also face backlash.
Saudi Arabia has draconian laws limiting LGBTQ+ people, women and religious minorities. LGBTQ+ fans have reason to fear that the country’s hard-line anti-LGBTQ+ laws will lead to criminalization of their presence. Female supporters may also have restrictions placed on their attendance. It goes against FIFA’s own founding values of inclusion and equal rights.
FIFA has a history of corruption, with multiple scandals involving bribery, vote-rigging and unscrupulous deals. The bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia without any genuinely competitive rival has raised new questions about the merits of the selection process versus the influence of money. Considering Saudi Arabia’s riches — and its record of using wealth to obtain international clout — many have assumed FIFA’s choice was about more than what’s right.
FIFA has been rocked by several corruption scandals over the years, many related to bribery in the World Cup bidding process. Some of the most prominent cases of corrupt FIFA include:
Qatar 2022 Bribery Scandal – In a series of investigations, it emerged that FIFA executives were allegedly bribed by high-ranking Qatari officials with millions of dollars to win the hosting rights for the 2022 tournament. These payments were allegedly funneled through offshore accounts and shady business deals.
2015 FIFA Corruption Case — The U.S. Department of Justice indictment 14 high-ranking FIFA officials for corruption, revealing a widespread bribery and fraud scheme that had persisted for decades.
Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 inquiries — FIFA officials were accused of accepting bribes from each country in return for its votes. In fact, some members were banned from football-related activity as a result of their participation in these types of unethical dealings.
In contrast to past World Cup selection processes in which several nations vie for hosting rights, Saudi Arabia was the sole candidate to host the 2034 World Cup. That absence of competition has sparked allegations of behind-the-scenes agreements between FIFA and Saudi officials.
There are several reports that indicate FIFA deliberately discouraged bids from other nations by presenting a very tight deadline, leaving it next to impossible for other nations to submit bids. Moreover, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been strongly tied to the Saudi leadership, fuelling even more allegations that the decision was driven by politics rather than on sporting merit.
With the awarding of the World Cup to Saudi Arabia, FIFA has yet again proved that bucks and clout trump human rights and moral concerns.
Migrant workers from South Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia form the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure projects. Many of these workers, who come from impoverished nations from Nepal, Bangladesh and India, often face severe and exploitative treatment.
Saudi Arabia has a sponsorship-based labor system called the Kafala system that gives employers total control over migrant workers. Such system allows, and has led to abuse and exploitation on a massive scale, including:
Saudi Arabia’s Sportswashing Accusations Saudi Arabia has been accused of investing in sports to distract from its human rights abuses, a practice known as sportswashing. Saudi leaders hope that giving their country the opportunity to host major sporting events will elevate their global image while these leaders themselves continue to pursue oppressive policies at home.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in sports around the world to bolster its image. Some of its largest acquisitions are:
Through sports as an ambassador of its public relations strategy, Saudi Arabia seeks to:
By granting the brutally oppressive regime of Saudi Arabia a global stage with the 2034 World Cup, FIFA is engaging in direct sports washing while resolving itself of the suffering of their own people.
A key US ally with a long history of war crimes and breaches of international law — especially in Yemen. Since 2015, the Saudi-led coalition has been:
Saudi Arabia’s record of torture, unfair trials, mass executions and suppression of free speech make it wholly unfit to host the FIFA World Cup 2034. Putting the tournament in the hands of a nation known for horrific human rights violations not only blemishes FIFA’s reputation but also contradicts the fairness and justice represented in football.
FIFA’s decision must be reversed, and the WWC proper should be hosted in country where basic human rights are valued. Otherwise, the tournament will be a vehicle for the whitewashing of oppression rather than a celebration of the world’s most popular sport.