The men’s football World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2034 with the promise of “one of a kind” stadiums and organisers insisting everyone is welcome.
However, the decision to award the tournament to the kingdom which will feature 11 stadiums that have not been built yet – one in a new city that hasn’t been built – is a controversial one.
Saudi’s bid was unopposed and the Football Association backed the 2034 hosts in Wednesday’s Fifa meeting.
It is the second time the competition will be held in the Middle East following the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
Saudi Arabia has invested around £5bn in sports since 2021, when the country’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman made it a key part of his strategy to diversify the economy, with a host of major sporting events brought to the kingdom, including high-profile boxing and Formula 1.
The country’s domestic football league now includes world stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar Jr, and the country’s Public Investment Fund owns Newcastle United and launched the breakaway LIV golf series.
However, the country has been accused of ‘sportswashing’ – using its unprecedented spending on sport to improve the oil-producing kingdom’s reputation over its human rights record and environmental impact.
So what will a World Cup in Saudi Arabia look like?
A clifftop, a tower and a Mexican wave – 11 new stadiums
Fifa’s report into the Saudi World Cup bid praises the “one-of-a-kind” stadium projects that have been proposed.
“They have tremendous potential and will undoubtedly change the way future stadium designs and structures are approached,” the report states.
In total, organisers say the Saudi World Cup will be played in 15 stadiums across five cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Al-Khobar and Neom, an as yet unbuilt city in the north-west of the country.
The plans for the Neom stadium show it will be set 350 metres above ground level and will only be accessible via high-speed lifts and driverless vehicles.
It is part of the country’s ‘The Line’ project and has been pitched as a car-free city, just 200m (656ft) wide and 170km (106 miles) long. The Line will be taller than the Empire State Building in New York and about as long as the distance between Bristol and London.
The Qiddiya Coast Stadium will feature a ripple design to evoke the look of a Mexican wave, while the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium in Riyadh will be located on a clifftop.
Eight of the tournament’s stadiums will be in the capital Riyadh – including the planned 92,760 King Salman International Stadium, which will host the opening game and the final.
Of the 15 stadiums, four are already built, eight are planned and three are under construction and will host the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.
A controversial host?
Saudi Arabia has been criticised for its human rights violations, women’s rights abuses, the criminalisation of homosexuality, the restriction of free speech and the war in Yemen.
Non-governmental organisations recently claimed the authorities executed at least 200 individuals in the first nine months of 2024, the highest for three decades.
The kingdom’s international standing was severely damaged by the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist who was a prominent critic of the government.
Human rights campaigners say sport is being used by the Saudi government to detract from long-standing reputation issues.
The Saudi government says the investment in sport is boosting the economy, opening it up to tourism and inspiring people to be more active.
According to Fifa guidelines, countries bidding to host the event must commit to respect for human rights.
In November, Fifa released its evaluation report for the Saudi bid, awarding it “an average score of 4.2 out of 5” – the highest ever.
Fifa claimed “there is a good potential that the tournament could serve as a catalyst for some of the ongoing and future reforms, and contribute to positive human rights outcomes for people in Saudi Arabia and the region that go beyond the scope of the tournament itself”.
Last month, however, campaign group Amnesty International said the process to select Saudi Arabia as the 2034 host must be halted unless major human rights reforms were announced. It claimed that hosting the tournament there would likely lead to severe and widespread rights violations.
‘Everyone welcome’
Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia and there is no suggestion that this will change before the World Cup.
Punishments for drinking alcohol include fines, prison sentences and deportation.
“We have hosted over a hundred sporting events, welcoming three million sports fans with no alcohol,” Hammad Albalawi of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport told Sky earlier this year. “They have enjoyed their time and discovered what Saudi has to offer – entertainment, art, music, culture and heritage.”
Same-sex relations are also illegal in Saudi Arabia and being transgender is not recognised.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises travellers to the country to respect local traditions, customs, laws and religion “so you do not cause offence”. It states that travellers can face “serious penalties for doing something that might not be illegal in the UK” and people should avoid showing affection in public.
Failure to carry personal identification can result in a fine or prison sentence.
Speaking to the BBC’s sports editor Dan Roan last year, Saudi Arabia’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said the controversy over neighbouring Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers before the 2022 World Cup was “not going to be repeated”.
He also insisted “everyone is welcome” at the 2034 event.
Fan experience
The bid promises plans to expand airports, introduce high-speed rail links and enhance public transport.
However, the vast distances between stadiums means fans who want to move between host cities are likely to have to rely on air travel.
Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East and around nine times the size of the UK.
The World Cup is being expanded and will feature 48 teams from 2026 onwards. That is an increase from the 32 that competed in Qatar.
Fifa said “extensive enhancements to public transport infrastructure are foreseen” within cities, including the launch of the new metro system in Riyadh.
Ten fan parks, two per city, are planned. As for accommodation for teams, officials, media and fans, the Fifa bid report suggests there is a “wide variety of good options to cater for all types of tournament stakeholders”.
Could it be another winter tournament?
The 2034 tournament could be held in the winter to avoid the country’s extreme summer temperatures, as with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Speaking to the BBC, sports minister Prince Abdulaziz said organisers were “definitely studying” whether it could be staged in the summer.
“Why not see what the possibilities are to do it in the summer? Whether it is summer or winter it doesn’t matter for us, as long as we make sure that we [deliver] the right atmosphere to host such an event,” he said.
Temperatures in Saudi Arabia are at their mildest between October and April.
During those months, average daily temperatures in host cities range between 15C and 30C.
Between May and September, average daily temperatures range between 27C and 43C in inland areas, and 27C to 38C in coastal areas.
Source: BBC
