FIFA 2034: How Football's Governing Body Sold a World Cup to a Forced Labour Economy

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On 11 December 2024, at a FIFA Extraordinary Congress, the organisation’s 211 member associations voted to award Saudi Arabia the right to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup — the first-ever 48-team World Cup to be hosted by a single country. The vote was conducted by acclamation — no formal ballot, no recorded dissent, no competing bid. FIFA’s Bid Evaluation Report gave Saudi Arabia the highest score in World Cup bidding history: 419.8 out of 500. The rating characterised the Kingdom as a “medium risk” host. The host cities will be Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha, and NEOM — five cities across a country the size of Western Europe.

Forced-Labour on SAUDI VISION 2030 Intelligence Platform

FIFA 2034: How Football's Governing Body Sold a World Cup to a Forced Labour Economy