December 15 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended the 2030 and 2034 World Cup bidding processes as “the best FIFA can do for football, covering the entire world in only eight years”.
A bidding process for a World Cup usually takes years, but FIFA and Infantino awarded the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, subject to confirmation by the Congress next year, in the blink of an eye, and without much transparency.
On the sidelines of the Club World Cup in Jeddah, Infantino told Sky Sports: “Having arrived where we have arrived with a 100-year celebration in South America with the World Cup 2030 then being played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and then the following one – Asia and Oceania – Saudi Arabia coming up as the only candidate – that has of course been the result of a lot of discussion with all the confederations, with all the presidents of the confederations to see what best we can do for football.”
“My opinion – and it was the opinion of the entire FIFA Council – was that it is always good and positive if we can show to the world that we are united, that we come with a consensus, with a solution that maybe not everyone is happy with everyone – everyone maybe wanted a bit more, but everyone made a step back or a step in the direction of the other to find a compromise that everyone can live with, which allows the FIFA World Cup to be in North America in 2026, to be in South America at the beginning of 2030 and then in Africa and Europe, and then in 2034 in Asia, so we cover the entire world in only eight years.”
The FIFA boss stressed that the bidding process is still ongoing as the sole candidates for the two World Cups need to provide the documentation and guarantees to ensure the Congress will greenlight the host awards.
It is widely understood that Infantino manoeuvred behind the scenes to stage the 2030 World Cup in six countries across three continents to pave the way for Saudi Arabia in 2034. The Arab Kingdom emerged quickly as a bidding nation as other potential candidates were given less than a month to throw their hat in the ring.
The 2030 decision takes the notion of a mega-sporting event to a new extreme, ignoring climate concerns, while heading to Saudi Arabia in 2034 has prompted new human rights concerns. Infantino doesn’t seem to mind. On Thursday, he attended a match in the Saudi Women’s Premier League, promoting the transformation and modernisation of Saudi Arabia.
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