“The next two editions will be held in Africa (Morocco) and Europe (Portugal and Spain) – with three festivals in South America (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) – in 2030 and in Asia (Saudi Arabia) in 2034,” wrote the Swiss on Instagram on Tuesday evening: “Three editions, five continents and ten countries involved in hosting the tournament – this is how football becomes truly global!”
The applications were accepted by the FIFA Council “by consensus after a constructive dialogue and extensive consultations,” Infantino continued, underlining the power of the game. “We live in an increasingly divided and aggressive world and show once again that football, the world’s leading sport, unites like nothing else.”
Saudi Arabia in particular has come under massive criticism from human rights organizations. According to Human Rights Watch, the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is “appalling.”
The organization cited mass executions, the continued suppression of women’s rights and the murder of hundreds of migrants on the Yemeni border as examples. In addition, government critics are tortured and imprisoned, religious minorities are oppressed, and sex outside of marriage and same-sex relationships are punishable by the death penalty.
Messi: “I don’t know if I’m the best of all time”