The 2034 men’s football World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, the world
governing body Fifa has confirmed today, Sports247 reports .
Saudi Arabia was confirmed at Wednesday’s Extraordinary Fifa Congress meeting following a vote.
All 211 of Fifa’s member nations were represented at the meeting over a video link.
Nations gave their votes by ‘acclamation’ – clapping in front of their cameras via their video links.
Norway opted to abstain from giving their approval for the 2034 tournament being awarded to Saudi Arabia because of the bidding process, not because Saudi Arabia were named hosts.
Switzerland also asked for their observations before the vote to be included in the meeting minutes.
Saudi Arabia has been accused of ‘sportswashing’ in recent years – using its unprecedented spending on sport to improve the oil-producing kingdom’s reputation over its human rights record and environmental impact.
Saudi Arabia has marked out 15 stadiums for the matches at the 2034 World Cup as the biggest football fiesta will be making a return to the Arab world, twice years after Qatar 2022, the firsr FIFA World Cup to be hosted by an Arab nation.
