Severe Criticism of Human Rights Report Related to Saudi Arabia's Hosting of the 2034 World Cup

On November 7, international human rights organizations issued a statement sharply criticizing a human rights assessment report related to Saudi Arabia's bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, calling it "incomplete" and "misleading." The report, prepared by the legal office of "ESNH Clifford Chance" based in Riyadh, was said to overlook international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated in their joint statement that the report employed United Nations assessments in a "highly selective" manner and failed to consult credible external stakeholders, including Saudi human rights experts. According to these human rights organizations, this undermined the credibility of the report and indicated a one-sided perspective on human rights challenges in Saudi Arabia. These criticisms arise as Saudi Arabia has recently been introduced as the sole candidate to host the 2034 World Cup, with final approval expected in December. Amnesty International has also warned of a "sharp increase" in executions in both Iran and Saudi Arabia. This issue has once again drawn attention to human rights issues in World Cup host countries, a topic that had previously become a serious discussion during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The joint statement from these human rights organizations noted that the report contained "no discussion of widespread and related abuses in Saudi Arabia documented by several human rights organizations and UN bodies, and this has become a basis for Saudi Arabia's human rights strategy for hosting these competitions." A spokesperson for the International Football Federation, FIFA, told the Associated Press that all related reports, including independent human rights assessments and human rights strategies of hosting candidates for the 2030 and 2034 periods, are available on FIFA's website. However, FIFA only takes responsibility for reports it has evaluated and is set to publish on December 11, ahead of the FIFA Congress and the announcement of the hosts for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups. Human rights groups have pointed to mass executions in Saudi Arabia, reports of torture, and restrictions on women under the country's patriarchal and conservative system. The statement also mentions the criminalization of sexual relations outside of marriage and LGBTQ relationships in Saudi Arabia and criticizes the "widespread exploitation" of workers in the country. Additionally, severe restrictions on freedom of expression and heavy penalties for critical posts on social media are aspects that these human rights organizations claim have been completely ignored in this report. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has hosted prominent international events such as "Formula One" races and women's tennis competitions. Many observers have accused the country of attempting to divert attention from its human rights record by exploiting these sporting competitions.