Saudi Arabia World Cup a ‘catalyst for change’? Stop insulting our intelligence

Things must be really crook in Saudi Arabia. Sportspeople and organisations are rushing there to help out.

First it was a slew of soccer superstars, then many of the world’s best golfers, then tennis players led by Rafael Nadal. Formula 1 had already set up there; horse racing, too.

A fan takes a selfie with a replica World Cup trophy as Saudi Arabia is announced as the host nation for the 2034 World Cup.Credit: Getty Images

All say more or less the same thing – that they love their games and want to help them grow, and bring a bit of joy to local populations along the way. Somehow they’ve all arrived at the same conclusion about the place that most urgently needs their generosity.

You might think that there are many other more needy or deserving countries, but no, it’s Riyadh or bust.

You just knew that it wouldn’t be long before that great pillar of humanitarianism, FIFA, would want in on this flood of philanthropy.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino.Credit: AP

So desperate was FIFA to bring its particular style of world betterment to the desert kingdom that it manipulated its process to make sure that when it came to choosing a venue for the 2034 World Cup, only one country was allowed to bid.

In confirming this decision on Wednesday, FIFA was careful not to put it to anything as messy as a vote. It was by acclamation. Only Norway was honest enough to call this for what it was – an abomination of governance.

Still, to make an omelette, you have to break a few eggs, and Saudi Arabia’s hour of need could not be ignored.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino knows what it is like to be under the cosh and in need of help. “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker,” he said in 2022 when justifying FIFA’s decision to stage that year’s World Cup in Qatar despite its dubious human rights record.

His reasoning was that the World Cup would help to right the wrongs. On Wednesday, he was at it again, saying that the World Cup was a “unique catalyst for positive social change and unity”, especially for women.

Wait a moment. Is that not an admission that change was needed in Qatar and is needed in Saudi Arabia? And does that not also imply that there would be little or no appetite for change in those places if not for the spotlight that the World Cup brings?

The answers are yes, and yes to an extent.

As it happens, some things are crook in Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, 21 international organisations, including Amnesty International, Saudi diaspora human rights organisations, migrant worker groups from Nepal and Kenya and international trade unions, published a joint statement condemning FIFA’s decision to put the World Cup there.

Elsewhere, professional footballers, fan bodies and climate campaigners mounted protests. Women are particularly unimpressed. In October, 135 female footballers wrote to FIFA demanding it sever its links with the Saudi oil titan Aramco. FIFA has agreed to promote Aramco at the next two World Cups, including the women’s World Cup in 2027.

“This sponsorship is much worse than an own goal for football; FIFA might as well pour oil on the pitch and set it alight,” they wrote.

Some of the qualms about Saudi Arabia can be put down to what Fahad Nazer, from the Saudi embassy in Washington, called Western “ethnocentricity”. And it’s clear that the Saudis have made recent efforts to liberalise previously draconian laws restricting women. Improbably, Saudi Arabia is currently chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

But last year, US-based think tank Freedom House rated Saudi Arabia eight out of 100 for political rights and civil liberties, and said it was the most authoritarian regime in the world. Even to advocate for human rights there is still a jailable offence.

The Saudis object strenuously to the idea that what they are doing by putting their fingers in every sporting pie is sportswashing. That is only to be expected.

South Riyadh Stadium.

But the rest of the sporting world could stop insulting our intelligence by making out that its stampede to the Saudi door has everything to do with some sort of giant-hearted mission to spread the good sporting news and act as an angel of enlightenment in the furthest and darkest corners of the globe …

And nothing to do with Saudi Arabia’s bottomless sovereign wealth fund and Aramco and $US10 billion it has already splashed on sport in the country and around the world – and the certainty that there’s plenty more where that came from.

You can bet there’s one other international sports body that can’t take its eyes off all this, and you can just about put it in your diary now that Saudi Arabia will host the 2036 Olympic Games.

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