Even before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, there is one prevailing opinion: never again. FIFA under great pressure set up a new host selection system. But is that enough to ensure that the biggest football tournament is no longer held in a controversial country?
- The World Cup is very controversial because of the large-scale human rights violations in Qatar. In the run-up to the tournament, NU.nl sheds light on the dark side of the event from different perspectives.
The 2022 World Cup was surprisingly awarded to Qatar in 2010. In recent years there has been a lot of criticism of this decision. This mainly concerns the poor conditions for migrant workers and other human rights violations in Qatar.
Western countries in particular made a strong appeal to FIFA to prevent the 2010 scenario from being repeated. It took years, but the global football association has now promised to improve.
Saudi Arabia plans to test FIFA’s promised improvement soon. The Islamic kingdom is going according to the English newspaper The Times announce in the short term that it wants to organize the 2030 World Cup together with Egypt and Greece. Saudi Arabia scores at least as bad as Qatar when it comes to human rights.
The Saudis would like to invest many billions of euros to bring the World Cup back to the Middle East in eight years. Part of that money must go to Greece and Egypt, for example for the construction or renovation of stadiums and infrastructure in those countries.
Competition for the Saudi bid comes mainly from Europe and South America. Spain and Portugal want to host the 2030 World Cup with Ukraine. In addition, there is a joint bid from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. The host of the 2030 World Cup is normally chosen in 2024.
Protesters protested at the 2015 FIFA Congress against the World Cup in Qatar.
Protesters protested at the 2015 FIFA Congress against the World Cup in Qatar.
Photo: Getty Images
“I don’t think Saudi Arabia is very likely to host the 2030 World Cup.” That is what Gijs de Jong – who maintains contacts with FIFA, UEFA and other national associations on behalf of the KNVB – said at a symposium in Zeist in September. The secretary-general of the Dutch football association expects that the new procedure to choose a World Cup host is too great an obstacle for Saudi opportunities.
That procedure has been reversed after the dirty laundry that came out after December 2, 2010. On that date, Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) were chosen as World Cup hosts in Zurich, Switzerland. Rumors of bribery soon surfaced. Some of those allegations have been proven by a major investigation by the American judiciary into corruption within FIFA. Russia and Qatar have always denied the allegations.
Twelve years ago, 22 men were allowed to vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Nearly all of those members of FIFA’s then executive board have since been charged or charged with bribery and/or corruption (see boxes to this article). In short, the voting procedure – which had been used for decades to designate World Cup hosts – turned out to be very susceptible to fraud.
The 22 men who were allowed to vote in 2010 (part 1)
- Sepp Blatter (Switzerland, 86): The former FIFA president was handed almost 13 years’ worth of suspensions from the association.
- Michel Platini (France, 67): Banned for eight years by FIFA.
- Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago, 79): Banned for life.
- Julio Grondona (Argentina, died 2014): Would have received 845,000 euros for his vote for Qatar.
- Chung Mong-joon (South Korea, 70): Banned for six years (later reduced to 15 months).
- Ángel María Villar (Spain, 72): Fined for refusing to cooperate in investigation into World Cup awards.
It took FIFA almost seven years to come to a different procedure. At a conference in October 2017, the new guidelines for choosing a World Cup host were established.
All 211 FIFA member federations now have one vote. The vote of the Netherlands or Germany therefore counts as much as the vote of Belize or Tahiti. In addition, the results of the vote will be made public afterwards. In 2010, it was still a completely secret process. “It is our responsibility that the voting process is ethical, transparent, objective and impartial,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in 2017.
A second major change: human rights are explicitly mentioned for the first time. The human rights violations committed by those countries played no role in the choice for Russia and Qatar. A potential World Cup host is now obliged to devote a chapter of the bid book to the possible risks of human rights violations in his country. Plus a plan to do something about it.
“FIFA must end the era where countries can use the World Cup to cover up their human rights violations”Human Rights Watch director Minky Worden said five years ago. “These reforms are an important step towards that goal.”
The 22 men who were allowed to vote in 2010 (part 2)
- Chuck Blazer (US, died in 2017): Banned for life.
- Geoff Thompson (England, 77): Accused of making banned voting appointments for 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
- Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar, 73): Banned for life.
- Franz Beckenbauer (Germany, 77): Was banned for 90 days in 2014.
- Vitaly Mutko (Russia, 63): Banned for life by the IOC for his role in the Russian doping scandal.
- Nicolás Leoz (Paraguay, died 2019): Indicted in the US in 2015 for bribery. Suspended by FIFA.
- Worawi Makudi (Thailand, 70): Suspended for 3.5 years.
- Rafael Salguero (Guatemala, 75): Known culpability in US corruption investigation.
The new procedure had its first test on 13 June 2018. On that day, a joint bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup. The trio of countries clearly received more votes than Morocco’s bid (134 to 65).
In the report of the independent research agency BSR – published before the vote – both initiatives were rated ‘average’ in the field of human rights. The question now is whether a Saudi bid will get a worse score from BSR and what the consequences will be.
“FIFA must keep its own promises,” said MEP Lara Wolters (PvdA) – and FIFA critic – at the symposium in Zeist. “The association must ensure that World Cup host countries commit to the agreements on human rights. But we know that at FIFA there is often a big difference between the papers and the real reality.”
Critics fear that FIFA’s ‘human rights clause’ is nothing more than a publicity stunt. “Saudi Arabia’s bid will contain a provision about workers’ rights. But that is only on paper,” says Gerard Arink of the Pro2 foundation, which is committed to Nepalese migrant workers who have worked in Qatar. “FIFA is only concerned with how to get it publicly sold to give the World Cup to Saudi Arabia.”
The 22 men who were allowed to vote in 2010 (part 3)
- Ricardo Teixeira (Brazil, 75): Indicted in the US and Switzerland for bribery and corruption.
- Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast, 70): Would have received $1.5 million to vote for Qatar.
- Issa Hayatou (Cameroon, 76): In the 1990s, he was scolded by the IOC for taking money from a marketing company.
- Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus, 75): Sold a piece of land for 30 million euros to a Qatari company. Cleared of bribery by FIFA in 2017.
- Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium, 76): Received a painting by a Russian friend before the vote, but was acquitted in 2015 by the FIFA Ethics Committee.
- Hany Abo Rida (Egypt, 69): Survived longest on FIFA’s board, until 2019. Never officially charged, but was an ally of Bin Hammam.
- Senes Erzik (Turkey, 80): Remained on FIFA’s board until 2017.
- Junji Ogura (Japan, 84): Never officially accused.
