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NANCY ARMOUR
FIFA
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OPINION: GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA SELL SOULS AND 2034 WORLD CUP FOR SAUDI ARABIA'S
BILLIONS

Nancy Armour
USA TODAY


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What an ugly day for the beautiful game.

By awarding the 2034 men’s World Cup to Saudi Arabia, a country with an abysmal
record on human rights, treatment of women, the LGBTQ community and migrant
workers, FIFA sold its soul. What was left of it, anyway.

“Everyone gave up something for the benefit of all, for the greater good. These
are precisely the values at the heart of FIFA,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino
said Wednesday, not realizing, or caring, he was giving the game away as he
opened the Extraordinary FIFA Congress that rubber stamped the hosts for the
men’s World Cups in 2030 and 2034.

Infantino and his minions have abandoned all pretense of doing the right thing
or keeping the World Cup from being anything but a shameless money grab. All
that matters is the gazillions of dollars Saudi Arabia is putting in their
pockets, and FIFA members have fallen obediently in line.



They ignored their own bidding rules, strong-arming South America into giving up
its hopes of hosting the 100th anniversary of the World Cup and instead
accepting a non-sensical arrangement that will see the first three games in 2030
played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the tournament moves to Spain,
Portugal and Morocco.

They ensured that Saudi Arabia would be the only candidate in 2034, icing out
Australia with a procedural maneuver that would have made it impossible to mount
a comprehensive bid. They “sportswashed” Saudi Arabia’s documented record of
migrant worker abuses and deaths, punishment of opposition — anyone remember
Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist who was butchered at the command
of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman? — and intolerance of LGBTQ people in an
evaluation report released last month, rating human rights concerns at only a
"medium."



And in case any country decided to get cute and mount a protest campaign,
Infantino decreed that the votes Wednesday would be by acclimation. Via Zoom. If
a country is registering its dissent by refusing to clap, can it even be noticed
in a panel of 200-plus screens?

Oh, Norway tried to object, submitting a letter criticizing FIFA for ignoring
human rights concerns and subverting its own processes. Switzerland asked for an
independent human rights monitor, as well as oversight by the International
Labor Organization on World Cup-related projects.



Bless their hearts. Infantino moved heaven and earth to get that Saudi cash. He
wasn’t about to be deterred now.

“We are, of course, aware of critics and fears. And I fully trust our hosts to
address all open points from this process and deliver a FIFA World Cup that
meets the world’s expectations. That is exactly why we went through this bidding
procedure and why we have a transparency that will shape real and lasting
change,” Infantino said.



“Social improvements, positive human rights impacts — that is one of the
responsibilities of hosting a World Cup.”

Tell that to the families of the migrant workers who died building the palaces
for the World Cup in Qatar two years ago. Or the women in Qatar still under the
thumbs of their male guardians. Or the members of the LGBTQ community in Qatar
who’ve been subjected to harassment and abuse.

Tell that to the fans and sponsors who got suckered into thinking Qatar would
abide by its promise not to impose Islamic restrictions on a global event only
to do as it pleased.

Infantino and FIFA don’t give a damn what their hosts do so long as the checks
keep coming. And everybody, Saudi Arabia included, knows it.

“FIFA has once again turned a blind eye to basic human rights in favor of
profit,” Mandeep Tiwana, co-secretary general of CIVICUS, an umbrella
organization of human rights groups including Amnesty International and the Gulf
Centre for Human Rights.



“It is condemning migrant workers in Saudi Arabia to suffer … placing lives on
the line to make spectator sport a reality.” 

The saddest part of all this is that it didn’t have to be this way.

It wasn’t even a decade ago that a series of raids by U.S. and Swiss authorities
threw FIFA’s leadership into chaos and laid bare the graft and greed that had
become the governing body’s defining feature. Change was promised, with a
detailed bid process designed to ensure transparency and prevent the corruption
that had tainted the awarding of so many recent World Cups. The bids would be
evaluated by FIFA, and qualified ones would be put to a vote by the Congress.

As he campaigned for the FIFA presidency, Infantino endorsed these new
procedures that were supposed to ensure the World Cup, FIFA’s crown jewel, went
to the host that was most worthy, not just the most wealthy.

And yet, a year ago, after back-room deals that still haven't been explained and
accelerated timelines that blocked any competition for Saudi Arabia, FIFA
announced there would be just one bid each for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups. The
Congress would "vote" on them, but Wednesday's session was the definition of
performative.



Human rights weren't the only thing deemed to be an inconvenience by FIFA in
this process. Its pledge to protect the environment is laughable, with one
tournament spread across six countries on three different continents while the
other requires the building or refurbishment of 11 stadiums and construction of
185,000 hotel rooms.

"We are not equal. We know that," Infantino said. "But we are learning to accept
each other with our differences, as part of this one global community."

Infantino would have you believe that our differences are simply matters of
opinion. But it's greater than that. There are people who care about doing what
is right and treating others with dignity and respect. And there are people who
only care about how much money they can get, the true cost of their riches be
damned. This sham of a bidding process has left little doubt in which category
Infantino and FIFA belong.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.








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