January 28 – The widow of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi has urged FIFA to commemorate her late husband at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with The Athletic, Hanan Elatr said: “I would love to meet with a member of FIFA. I would love them to honour my husband, and I want to cooperate with them. They should not forget the crime against Jamal, an innocent journalist.”
“They’re in a position to honour his legacy. They could name a stand in a stadium after him, or print his picture on tickets for the public. His sacrifice should be valued, not neglected.”
In 2018, Khashoggi, a 59-year-old Saudi dissident who lived in Virginia, USA, walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage, but he never came out.
He was allegedly dismembered, and, to this day, his remains have never been found. U.S. Intelligence later determined that a team of Saudi agents had flown to the Turkish capital to carry out a “capture or kill” operation authorised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman.
The Crown Prince has always denied that he ordered the murder.
In his columns for the Washington Post, Khashoggi was critical of Vision 2030 as well as of Neom, the futuristic linear city that Saudi Arabia is building in the west of the country and that will serve as a host city for the 2034 World Cup.
Notwithstanding all human rights concerns, FIFA awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has never explained why his organisation awarded its flagship competition to the country.
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