Australia withdrew from bidding to host the 2034 World Cup, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only candidate left in the process as the deadline passed on Tuesday. Although an official decision has not been made, the country will most likely be awarded the host.
In addition, Fifa president Gianni Infantino has already decided that the championship will end up in the Persian Gulf.
Now the chairman of the Swedish Football Association, Fredrik Reinfeldt, gives his view on the matter. He considers the situation “unfortunate”.
– We would have liked more nations to have shown interest and had the opportunity to apply for hosting so there would have been competition. Now we have to state the fact and hope that Saudi Arabia lives up to the responsibility that comes with a possible hosting, says Reinfeldt in a statement.
On its website, SvFF writes the following:
“According to FIFA’s own rules, the host nation must live up to requirements to respect human rights and labor rights before and during a championship, and Saudi Arabia has repeatedly received international criticism for shortcomings in terms of basic human and civil rights”.
Furthermore, the association believes that it will “follow Fifa’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s bid” and “raise the Swedish position” during the upcoming decision-making process.
Reinfeldt again:
– First of all, it must be noted that no decision has been made about the host country – there is a process for this, where SvFF, just like the other 210 member associations, participates in the decision-making and has the opportunity to express their views, says SvFF’s chairman.
– We will present our view of Saudi Arabia as a possible WC organizer in such a decision process. For us, it is important that in addition to the obvious sporting conditions, issues such as basic human rights and freedoms, freedom of the press and involvement in armed conflicts are also taken into account when deciding where the championship is to be held.
FIFA’s bidding rules only allowed nations from Asia and Oceania to bid for the 2034 World Cup.
2023-11-01 20:30:00
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