The world football body FIFA announced earlier that Saudi Arabia will be the hosts of the mens’ World Cup in 2034.
Before that, Spain, Portugal and Morocco will jointly host the tournament in 2030. There were repeated concerns about the announcment from critics over the country’s human rights record and the treatment of LGBTQ people (the UK has an even worse record in these areas, as there are so few non-white coaches, and there are currently very few openly gay players). As in the forthcoming 2026 tournament, due to take place in The US, Mexico and Canada, FIFA and the regional football bodies seem more concerned about making money than actually promoting the sport to benefit the fans.
Let’s hope that the team behind the Saudi bid learn from the problems experienced by Qatar in 2022.