CAF President Patrice Motsepe extends his congratulations to Morocco for the official award of the organization of the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain.

Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football, expressed “his warmest congratulations to Morocco” after being awarded the hosting of the 2030 World Cup, alongside Portugal and Spain, during the Extraordinary FIFA Congress held today.

Patrice Motsepe said: “The alliance between Morocco, Portugal and Spain constitutes a symbolic bridge between Africa and Europe through football, and it inspires all players in the world of football to work together to make the world a better place.

“This day is a source of great pride for African football, as Morocco becomes the second African country in FIFA history to host the World Cup.

“CAF welcomes this historic event and congratulates Morocco and its partners, Portugal and Spain.

“We would like to express our deep appreciation to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, and to the Moroccan government and people for launching and supporting Morocco’s bid for the 2030 World Cup.

“I am particularly proud of the decisive role and exemplary leadership of our brother, Fouzi Lekjaa, President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.

“I would also like to express my thanks to the 54 CAF member associations for their solidarity and unwavering support for Morocco’s candidacy.

“Our thanks also go to FIFA President Gianni Infantino for his visionary leadership, as well as to the 211 FIFA Members for granting the co-hosting rights of the 2030 World Cup to Morocco and Africa.”

CAF also congratulated the Kingdom of  Saudi Arabia, His Majesty the King, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and the people of Saudi Arabia for having been awarded the FIFA World Cup 2034.

CAF has worked together and partnered, over many years with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and is appreciative and thankful for this important partnership.”

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Amnesty International lashed out at FIFA for awarding Saudi Arabia the organisation of the 2034 men’s soccer World Cup, claiming the move would put lives at risk amid criticism of the country’s human rights record on Wednesday.

The 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco with one-off matches in three South American countries, FIFA announced after a vote by acclamation of the single bids.

A model of the proposed Jeddah Central Development Stadium is seen inside the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Among those who co-signed the statement were Saudi diaspora human rights organisations, migrant workers’ groups from Nepal and Kenya, international trade unions, fans’ representatives and global human rights organisations.

“FIFA’s reckless decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without ensuring adequate human rights protections are in place will put many lives at risk,” Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport, said in a statement issued by 21 bodies.

“Based on clear evidence to date, FIFA knows workers will be exploited and even die without fundamental reforms in Saudi Arabia, and yet has chosen to press ahead regardless.

“The organisation risks bearing a heavy responsibility for many of the human rights abuses that will follow.”

Lina Alhathloul, Head of Monitoring and Advocacy, ALQST for Human Rights, a Saudi diaspora human rights organisation, said the awarding of the World Cup to Saudi Arabia was ‘disheartening’.

 Model of a proposed stadium is seen inside the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

“Now it’s happened, urgent and sustained action is needed to mitigate the grave risks of labour and civil rights violations associated with the tournament, including by securing major and credible reforms,” she said in the joint statement.

In a separate statement, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre said that one stadium already under construction for the tournament had been linked to alleged exploitative labour of 10 hour shifts in extreme heat.

“FIFA, its sponsors, and multinational companies likely already eyeing up lucrative infrastructure contracts have a legal and ethical responsibility to respect human rights. Particularly those of the most vulnerable migrant workers…” Phil Bloomer, Executive Director of BHRRC said.

Last week, Mogens Jensen, the General Rapporteur on Governance and Ethics in Sport of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), urged FIFA to adhere to its own ‘eligibility and evaluation criteria’.

“The organisation is yet to impose binding demands on Saudi Arabia for reforms in key areas such as labour rights, freedom of expression, gender equality and anti-discrimination,” Jensen said.

Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.

In 2021, a 48-page report by Amnesty, Reality Check 2021, said that practices such as withholding salaries and charging workers to change jobs were still rife in Qatar, which then hosted the 2022 men’s World Cup.

Human Rights Watch then said that Qatari laws continue to discriminate against women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

-Reuters

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday said it will vote against FIFA’s awarding of hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups by acclamation, adding that it had formally criticised the process in a letter to the world governing body.

Votes are due to be held at FIFA’s virtual extraordinary Congress on Wednesday to approve the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, though each has only a single bid, which are both expected to be confirmed by acclamation.

A combined bid from Morocco, Spain and Portugal is the sole one for 2030, while Saudi Arabia is the lone bidder for 2034. FIFA announced both bidders in October last year.

“Ahead of the Congress, the Norwegian Football Federation has expressed concerns on several occasions about FIFA’s process for awarding the 2030 and 2034 World Cups,” the NFF said in a statement.

“The NFF will formally criticise the bidding process in a letter to FIFA and request that this be recorded in the Congress minutes.

“If a vote by acclamation is held, the NFF will vote against it. The NFF cannot endorse a process it considers flawed and inconsistent with the principles of FIFA’s own reforms.”

The NFF also requested that its criticism be officially recorded by FIFA.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘DELIBERATE SIGNAL’

“Tomorrow’s vote is not about who gets the 2030 and 2034 World Cups – that has already been decided,” NFF President Lise Klaveness said.

“The Congress is primarily about providing feedback on FIFA’s allocation process. The board’s assessment is that the process does not align with the principles of a sound and predictable governance system.

“By abstaining from acclamation, we are sending a deliberate signal that we cannot support FIFA’s approach.”

Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay submitted a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup in 2022.

However, FIFA announced in 2023 that Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay would instead each host one match of the 2030 World Cup to mark the tournament’s centenary, before the action moves to Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

Australia and Indonesia were in talks over a joint bid for the 2034 World Cup but dropped out before Saudi was announced as the sole bidder.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Klaveness added that the lack of an open process undermined trust in FIFA as the “global custodian of football”.

“FIFA’s own guidelines for human rights and due diligence have also not been adequately integrated into the process, increasing the risk of human rights violations,” she added.

“Based on the mandate from our General Assembly in 2021, we have consistently advocated for FIFA to strengthen itself as a rules-based and predictable steward of international football.

“We must remain consistent in this matter as well.”

Amnesty International and the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA)last month called on FIFA to halt the process to pick Saudi Arabia as hosts of the 2034 tournament unless major human rights reforms are announced before the vote.

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sport over the last few years although critics, including women’s rights groups and members of the LGBTQ community, have accused the kingdom of using its Public Investment Fund to “sportswash” its human rights record.

The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.

-Reuters