Saudi World Cup proves FIFA have sacrificed morals for money and Infantino's ego

31 October 2023 , 11:50

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Gianni Infantino is close to Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (Image: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Get ready for another winter World Cup in the desert.

Get ready for another tournament where fans will feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation. Get ready for a month in a country where women are discriminated against and criticising a state with one of the globe’s worst human rights records is punishable by death.

In the past we would have wondered how football, the self-styled global game for everyone, has ended up here. But we’ve experienced this before and the only surprising element is the ease with which this latest stunt has been waved through with open arms.

The 2034 competition will be held in Saudi Arabia by default because they are the only nation to have submitted a bid ahead of today’s hastily-scheduled deadline for declarations of interest. Australia were weighing up an offer but, wisely, decided not to waste their time after it was made clear that Saudi were the ones that FIFA wanted. The process was already limited to Oceania and Asia, blocking the entire western world from showing an interest. And even that decision was met by little opposition.

It is just another example of how bizarrely enthralled FIFA president Gianni Infantino is to Gulf power.

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And, once again, it is the fans who will pay the price. No amount of lame corporate speak, slogans and pieces of client journalism will make what should be the joy of cheering your nation on at the World Cup a pleasant experience.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, Saudi Arabia's sports minister, has previously said everyone will be made to feel welcome - once they abide by the country’s draconian rules. In other words a gay man or woman can come to watch the football but no way should they dare to hold hands with a partner.

“There are rules that everyone respects about our culture and how they have to abide by the culture that we have,” Bin Faisal said recently. "So even men and women - they can't show affection in public places, and so on. And that's a regulation that we have that we need to respect. And we have to respect the culture."

Saudi World Cup proves FIFA have sacrificed morals for money and Infantino's ego

Saudi fans during the World Cup in Qatar last year. (Getty Images)

Bin Faisal also said the World Cup bid "constitutes an important and natural step in our journey as a country passionate about football.”

So passionate that Jordan Henderson, the England midfielder deservedly criticised for turning his back on being an ally of the LGBT community to take the Saudi cash, is now routinely turning out in front of attendances in the hundreds - much less than you get at games in English football's ninth tier.

Henderson has previously said he would like to help deliver change. You can argue that he's deluded beyond belief. Because 11 years before this grotesque display masquerading as what used to be the pinnacle of our sport takes place, the safe money is on there being no tangible cultural growth.

Saudi's domestic league will continue to receive huge investment - particularly the four State-run teams - and stars putting money over morals are guaranteed to continue moving there. Yet the sense of hollowness will not alter in the next decade.

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There will be first-rate infrastructure, of course, and corporate visitors will be treated very well. Some gullible media members, as they did in Qatar, may even extol the quality of the hospitality they receive… while ignoring the brutal realities facing much of the general population. Heck, if it's good enough for David Beckham.

This is simply Saudi’s latest, and perhaps biggest, sportswashing initiative yet. And let’s not forget that grubby concept is one that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is unabashedly happy to be associated with. "If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we'll continue doing sportswashing," he said last month.