Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid unit, said his country welcomes all visitors, including LGBTQ people and their bid to host the 48-team showpiece event has nothing to do with ‘sportswashing’ their human rights record.

Global governing body FIFA limited the 2034 contest to bidders from the Asian and Oceania confederations as Morocco, Portugal and Spain will share the hosting of the 2030 tournament.

The hosts are set to be officially appointed at the FIFA Congress on Dec. 11 and Saudi Arabia’s bid is almost certain to succeed due to the absence of any other expressions of interest before FIFA’s deadline late last year.

In August, Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia failed to meet FIFA’s own human rights requirements in their bid for the 2034 men’s World Cup and called for urgent action to improve the nation’s human rights protections.

There are no public advocacy groups for LGBTQ people in the Kingdom and while Saudi’s state law is uncodified, it is understood by Amnesty, opens new tab  that people can be sentenced to death if it is proven they have engaged in same-sex sexual acts.

“You will be respected,” Albalawi told Sky Sports when asked about LGBTQ fans visiting his country. “You will be welcome in Saudi Arabia as that respect and welcome is to everyone from all around the world.

“We respect the privacy of all of our guests. We have seen millions of guests come to Saudi Arabia in the last few years. We’ve hosted over a hundred sporting events attended by more than three million fans who have enjoyed their experience.

“People need to educate themselves about the Kingdom and the best way to do that is to come and visit. They will find hospitable Saudis. We would love to receive all of our guests.”

In May 2023, Saudi’s government-run tourism website said in a statement under general information for LGBT visitors, “We ask that visitors respect our culture and traditions and follow our laws as they would when visiting any other country in the world.”

“Like other governments around the world, visitors are not required to disclose their personal information and we will respect visitors right to privacy.”

The Saudis have invested heavily in high-profile sports such as soccer, Formula One, boxing and golf over the last few years, leading critics, including Amnesty International, to accuse the oil-rich kingdom of “sportswashing” its human rights record.

Albalawi denied accusations of sportswashing and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to Vision 2030 while speaking with both local and international media.

HAPPIER LIVES

“We’re not doing this to make a headline, we’re doing this for our people,” Albalawi said. “We are investing to make sure that Saudis live longer and happier lives and that’s something that we’re very proud of.”

Vision 2030, launched in 2016, led by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the driving force behind recent reforms, aims to diversify the country’s oil-reliant economy by boosting tourism and enhancing urban life through cultural and heritage events and sports.

“If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we’ll continue sportswashing,” Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Fox News last year.

An independent human rights context analysis, prepared in collaboration with Saudi and British law firms, Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani (AS&H) Clifford Chance for the bid, failed to address several human rights issues, Amnesty said.

The document, which only involved input from governmental bodies, did not consult any civil society organisations or rights-holders in its preparation, Amnesty added.

Dana Ahmed, a researcher at Amnesty, told Reuters in June that while the organisation was able to conduct research on migrant workers in Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, which resulted in reforms, they have been denied similar access in Saudi Arabia.

Another Amnesty report from June said a number of key human rights risks tied to hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup also remain unaddressed.

-Reuters

Group A runaway leaders, Egypt could be banned from the 2026 World Cup qualifying series, a publication in Switzerland, the home base of FIFA has published.

Egypt lead Group A of the CAF qualifiers after amassing 10 points and four clear ahead of the second placed Guinea Bissau.

According to Switzerland based Blick, Egypt are facing the shocking possibility of being excluded from the 2026 FIFA World Cup due to an unpaid fine.

It is claimed that sanction hangs over the Egyptian Federation, which did not respect its commitments with a Swiss company active in the organization of international matches.

It is gathered that a Swiss company active in the organization of matches has an open invoice with the Egyptian Football Association, which has not paid it.

On December 5, 2023, the Association was ordered by the FIFA Tribunal to pay this amount for breach of contract.

On February 22, the same Association received a fine from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for non-compliance with the December 5 decision and a deadline of 30 days to pay.

And on August 19, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee fined the Egyptian Football Association again for non-compliance with the decision and gave a final deadline of 30 days to pay the full amount.

Otherwise? It will be up to the FIFA disciplinary committee to decide. And its range of sanctions goes as far as expulsion from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers! Contacted, FIFA confirmed Blick’s information.

The publication has it that Egypt had up till last week Thursday (September 19) to settle their debts and regularize the situation. 

The window to obtain a first-time U.S. visitor visa for the FIFA World Cup in 2026 is closing for some soccer fans, the U.S. Travel Association said at a press event this week, though the federal government says travelers still have time.

Visitor visa processing times have risen to 600 days for travelers in some countries, a big hurdle for fans who want to support one of the yet-to-be-determined 48 teams set to compete in the globally watched sporting event.

“If you don’t have your visa today, you’re not getting here for a World Cup that’s taking place in 2026,” Geoff Freeman, president and chief executive of the non-profit U.S. Travel Association told a group of reporters.

The U.S. State Department says the situation is not that dire, as it regularly assesses capacity and wait times in countries likely to play in the tournament, scheduled from June to July 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“While we encourage prospective FIFA World Cup visitors who will need U.S. visas to apply now, there is still plenty of time for fans to apply for their visas,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

Travelers are waiting on average 260 days for an appointment to interview for a first-time visitor visa, Freeman said. Average wait times in Colombia are currently about 670 days, according to the association, which would mean those visitors would miss the tournament.

In Mexico, the average wait is 458 days, and travelers from India are facing waits of up to 404 days for an interview.

More than 30 million travelers hold valid U.S. tourist visas and therefore would not have a problem if they wanted to attend the event, the State Department said.

FIFA is working with the Canadian, Mexican and U.S. governments to ensure that those who need visas can get them, a spokesperson said.

-Reuters