By The Associated Press’s Graham Dunbar
ZURICH On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia was officially named the 2034 World Cup host, marking a significant victory in its efforts to draw important sporting events to the kingdom.
There are still a lot of unanswered uncertainties regarding the competition and the 2030 World Cup, which will have three South American games and be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
The following are some of the main questions that must be resolved in the upcoming ten years:
Where will games be played?
Saudi Arabia has proposed 15 stadiums, eight of which are still on paper, spread across five cities: four in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, eight in the capital Riyadh, and one each in Abha, Al Khobar, and Neom, the futuristic megaproject. At least 40,000 seats would be available for each World Cup match.
A 92,000-seat arena in Riyadh is scheduled to host the first game and final. Certain designs are bright. The stadium near Riyadhis is intended to be situated atop a 200-meter cliff with a retractable wall of LED displays, while the stadium in Neom is situated 350 meters (yards) above street level.
All 104 games are intended to be held in Saudi Arabia, although there has been conjecture that some may be held in adjacent or neighboring nations.
When will the World Cup be played?
Certainly not during the customary World Cup season in June and July, when Saudi Arabia frequently experiences temperatures beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees).
FIFA rescheduled the World Cup in Qatar for November–December 2022, but most European clubs and leagues did not like the dates because their seasons were disrupted. Additionally, the holy month of Ramadan through mid-December and Riyadh’s hosting of the multisport Asian Games complicate that time window in 2034.
Even though January 2034 would be right before Salt Lake City’s Winter Olympics, it could still happen. Back-to-back big events have not been opposed by the International Olympic Committee.
Saudi World Cup bid official Hammad Albalawi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the world soccer organization sets the tournament’s exact dates.
FIFA made that decision. We are prepared to participate in this discussion. But in the end, FIFA and the confederations make the decision, Albalawi stated.
Will stadiums be segregated for men and women?
A key component of Saudi propaganda surrounding the transformation initiative known as Vision 2030 is granting women greater rights and liberties in a historically conservative country.
In 2017, the kingdom made the decision to allow women to attend sporting events, initially in family-friendly areas and large cities that were segregated from men-only areas.
Female fans shouldn’t be prohibited by 2034 if societal improvements proceed as planned.
In 2022, a women’s professional soccer league was established in Saudi Arabia, and players from European clubs joined. They are free to play with their hair uncovered and in shorts.
Will alcohol be allowed at the venues or hotels?
Before FIFA contracts any sponsor arrangements for 2034, the Saudi prohibition of alcohol is well-known and accepted. Will there, however, be any exceptions?
The World Cup in Qatar was plagued by the alcohol issue since, even before Qatar’s bid was successful in 2010, it was assumed that beer sales would be permitted at stadiums. FIFA extended Budweiser’s long-standing agreement to serve as the official World Cup beer through 2022 a year later.
Three days prior to the first game, Qatar subsequently reneged on that pledge, creating uncertainty and a feeling that a commitment had been breached.
Alcohol was exclusively supplied in opulent stadium suites in Qatar. In certain hotel bars, guests might also enjoy a drink.
However, Saudi Arabia has much more stringent alcohol regulations, and there are no signs that this will change.
Saudi Arabia has successfully held scores of sporting events without serving alcohol, according to Albalawi.
“We’re making our stadiums a safe and secure place for fans to bring their families,” he said.
How will workers’ rights be protected?
FIFA has accepted Saudi Arabia’s pledges to uphold and enforce labor laws and treat migrant workers with the utmost respect; but, rights organizations and trade unions have expressed widespread doubt. The International Labor Organization, supported by the United Nations, is looking into a formal complaint.
Ten years after it was a defining issue for Qatar, protecting the migrant workers required to build stadiums and other tournament projects is still a major challenge for Saudi Arabia.
Would Israel be allowed to play if it qualified for the 2034 World Cup?
When FIFA virtually awarded the kingdom the 2034 World Cup on October 4 of last year, ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel had been getting better. After Israel was attacked by Hamas three days later, diplomacy became more difficult.
Any soccer federation that wants to organize a FIFA event agrees to the fundamental tenet that any team that makes it is welcome.
That didn’t stop Indonesia from erecting obstacles to prevent Israel from attending the men’s Under-20 World Cup last year. Israel qualified through a European tournament nine months prior to the issue erupting, but Indonesia does not have established diplomatic relations with Israel.
The Israeli squad advanced to the semifinals after FIFA transferred the competition to Argentina.
Israel, which has been a member of UEFA for 30 years, participated in the 1970 World Cup but has never made it past the qualifying stage in Europe. The 48-team World Cup in Saudi Arabia should provide 16 spots for Europe.
Where will the final of the 2030 World Cup be played?
The Saudi decision received the majority of the attention at the FIFA Congress on Wednesday, but the soccer organization and its members also formally approved the 2030 World Cup hosts, the most extensive and drawn-out approval in history.
From June 8–9, there will be one match each in Uruguay, the 1930 host, Argentina, and Paraguay. The remaining 101 matches, which are split between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, will resume the competition four days later.
Three continents, six nations, numerous languages, and currencies. Fans traverse roughly 14 kilometers (10 miles) of sea between Spain and Morocco using airplanes, trains, cars, and boats.
The final is scheduled for July 21, 2030, and the host nations may become tense over the venue selection.
Morocco wants it at the King Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca, which is expected to hold 115,000 people and is the largest soccer stadium in the world. In the meantime, Spain has suggested holding the final at one of Real Madrid’s or Barcelona’s renovated home stadiums.
This article was written by Baraa Anwer of the Associated Press in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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