FIFA has finally confirmed the worst-kept secret in football – as the hosts of the next two World Cups were announced.
After a “virtual Congress” of the 211 member national associations, Zurich chiefs announced the 2030 event will be primarily staged in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
But to mark the Centenary of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, the first three games of the 2030 tournament will all be held in South America – in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
And the Fifa membership also agreed – in a joint decision approved “by acclamation” – that Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 tournament as part of the Gulf state’s £2.5TRILLION ($3.2trillion) mega project.
Both host decisions had been signposted 14 months ago after Fifa President Gianni Infantino cut a deal with South American chiefs to open the way for the Saudis.
Since then, Fifa have gone through a formal “evaluation” process of the two bids – which both unsurprisingly passed with flying colours.
But Infantino left no room for any criticism as he ensured there was no way for nations to raise issues such as human rights in Saudi without voting against BOTH bids.
While the FA meekly fell in line with Fifa – with Wembley chiefs mulling a 2029 Women’s World Cup bid and unwilling to damage the chances of that succeeding – the Norwegian and Danish FAs did both register their frustration at the mechanism.
Norwegian FA President Lise Klaveness made it clear she would abstain rather than vote in favour.
Denmark did support the decision but stated it “expects Fifa to follow up on demands for human rights, freedom of expression and equal access to World Cup matches”.
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
Meanwhile, the Swiss FA’s support came alongside a demand for Fifa to establish “independent bodies to guarantee human rights and transparency” in the Gulf state.
Spain has proposed 11 stadia in nine cities, with six cities put forward by Morocco and Lisbon and Porto in Portugal.
One of the Moroccan venues would be the record-breaking Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca, set to be built by 2028 with a staggering capacity of 115,000 – making it the biggest football ground in the world.
However, the epic new stadium may not even get to host the final – with Real Madrid’s renovated Santiago Bernabeu or the updated home of Barcelona, the Nou Camp, both keen.
Speaking of futuristic purpose-built new grounds, the Saudi bid foresees 15 venues across five cities, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Khobar and Neom – a city which is still in construction and is not due to be completed until five years AFTER the World Cup.
The various stadium plans include artificial canyons, crystal-like shards and a 45,000-seater venue built into a cliff.
But the most ambitious of all will be the Neom Stadium, with the pitch 350m above the ground as part of the bonkers 110-mile-long The Line sideways skyscraper.
However, the King Salman Stadium with a capacity of 92,000 is set to be the grandest venue of all and host the opening match and final.
The state-of-the-art arena will include a royal box, 120 hospitality suites and 300 VIP seats – as well as VVIP areas – plus a shopping centre.
As in Qatar in 2022, it is almost certain to be a winter tournament – causing even more disruption to the traditional European club season – but likely to take place in January 2024 rather than the November-December window of the first Arab World Cup.
And that will undoubtedly spark a backlash from Europe’s top leagues – who could go seven weeks without club football – with Prem chief executive Richard Masters likely to be among those fighting the unwanted schedule.
The January 2034 timeline would help to avoid the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan in November and December at the end of the year.
