Inside Man: How FIFA Steered the World Cup to Saudi Arabia

While the world was still reeling from the corona crisis in the autumn of 2020, the president of the International Football Association, Gianni Infantino, traveled to Rome for an audience with the Prime Minister of Italy.

Wearing masks and elbowing each other, Mr Infantino, the president of FIFA, and the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, greeted each other in front of journalists before disappearing with the president of the Italian Football Federation into one of the lavish staterooms of the 16th-century Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Italian leader.

Mr. Infantino explained subsequently that they had discussed the recovery of football after the pandemic. He made no mention of the other pressing subject he had come for.

Out of sight of the television cameras, Mr. Infantino surprised the Italians by revealing himself as a pitchman for a Saudi Arabian bid to host soccer’s biggest championship, the World Cup. Saudi Arabia had already secured Egypt’s support, the FIFA president told Italian officials, and was now looking for a European partner for what would be a unique tournament that would span three continents in 2030. Italy, he said, could be that partner.

Mr Conte listened politely, but knew that such a partnership was politically impossible: Italy had strained relations with Egypt over the brutal murder of a young Italian student in Cairo in 2016, and in Europe there was still resentment over Saudi Arabia’s role in the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post.

Italy’s reaction to Mr. Infantino’s suggestion was initially “cautious and within a few hours negative,” according to Pietro Benassi, the prime minister’s top diplomatic adviser. The country said no.

Three years later, Saudi Arabia would get its prize after all. On October 31, FIFA confirmed, after an accelerated process that surprised its own members, that Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup. Within hours, Mr. Infantino implied in a social media post that his status as host was a foregone conclusion and other Gulf Rulers greeted it as a “Arab victory” — even though the official vote would still be almost a year away.

For many in football, Mr. Infantino’s advocacy for Saudi Arabia was nothing new. In the years since his visit to Rome, he had also pitched the Saudi idea of ​​co-hosting Greece; championed Saudi Arabia’s multimillion-dollar investment in football; and helped shepherd rule changes that all but assured the kingdom would win the World Cup.

His efforts were far from secret. But they have left many in football concerned about Mr Infantino’s motives, and whether he is using his position to advance the interests of FIFA or a friendly associate who has used his wealth to exert influence in the sport.

“How can we ensure that the growth of the game and the values ​​of the game prevail, and not personal relationships?” said Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Association and critic of FIFA’s governing body.

FIFA, through a spokesman, responded to questions about Mr Infantino’s actions on behalf of the president, saying nothing improper had been done to ensure the World Cup went to a preferred candidate. “The selection of venues for the FIFA World Cup is conducted through an open and transparent bidding process,” the spokesman said, adding that Mr Infantino had not “triggered or initiated” any discussions about Saudi Arabia’s bid with potential partners.

Yet the speed and secrecy with which FIFA secured the rights to host the 2030 and 2034 tournaments has led to fresh criticism of the way football is governed, with key decisions at the organisation now being made by a small group of top executives, led by Mr Infantino, and then approved by a compliant board.

“What is incredible is that this is the new FIFA,” said Miguel Maduro, the first executive appointed by Mr. Infantino amid promises of transparency and ethics reforms. “But they are basically going back to the same old way of awarding World Cups.”

Saudi Arabia has never made a secret of its desire to host one. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi state has given sports a prominent role in efforts to project a new image for the country: vibrant, modern, open. Billions have been spent on boxing matches, Formula One races, the LIV Golf Tour and, most recently, on luring some of the world’s most famous soccer stars to Saudi Arabia’s national league.

The biggest prize, however, was always the World Cup. And in Mr. Infantino, Saudi Arabia found an enthusiastic ally. In many ways, the kingdom’s ambitions aligned with his own, as he sought to create new events and legacy-defining projects, all of which would require major infusions of new capital.

In 2018, for example, Mr. Infantino stunned members of FIFA’s governing board by demanding permission to strike a deal for new competitions with investors he would not reveal the identities of. (After the deal fell through, it emerged that the group behind the bid, SoftBank, counted Saudi Arabia among its biggest backers.) Three years later, Mr. Infantino enraged many soccer fans by saying that FIFA would study a proposal — put forward by the Saudi Arabian federation — to hold the World Cup every two years. (The unpopular concept was shelved after a furious backlash.)

Despite those failures, Mr. Infantino’s relationship with Saudi Arabia only grew closer, and he has often promoted its events on social mediaand in 2021 he played in a video released by the ministry of sports. In August 2022, he and Prince Mohammed shared a suite at a boxing match in Jeddah. Months later, the FIFA president repaid the favor at the opening match of the World Cup in Qatar. It was only last month that the men were photographed sitting next to each other at another event in Riyadh.

“It’s meant to send a message,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. “It’s like a visual symbol of putting your thumb on the scale.”

At the same time, Mr Infantino engaged in private diplomacy that benefited Saudi Arabia’s World Cup ambitions.

After Italy backed out of a partnership for a World Cup bid, Saudi Arabia approached Greece with the offer and Mr Infantino discussed the idea with the Greek Prime Minister on the sidelines of a UN meeting in September 2021. But that idea was withdrawn after Morocco joined forces with Spain and Portugal in a potentially unbeatable bid to secure the 2030 World Cup.

Instead, Saudi Arabia shifted its focus. Realizing that the Spain-Portugal-Morocco proposal would likely prevail over an unlikely bid from four South American nations, the Saudis realized they could take advantage of FIFA rules that would bar nations from Europe and Africa from competing in the 2034 tournament when that bidding process began.

FIFA then made two more curious moves.

The first three matches of the 2030 World Cup, it was suddenly announced, would be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay in celebration of the World Cup’s centenary. (The first World Cup was played in Uruguay in 1930.) That left South America in line for the Portugal-Spain-Morocco bid — and knocked another continent out of the list of eligible bidders for 2034.

But once the 2030 host countries were known, FIFA unexpectedly announced that it would bring forward the bidding process for the 2034 tournament by at least three years, limiting the number of countries that could bid in a way that would favor the Saudi bid. The plan was to complete the bid in what was for most countries an impossible timeline: interested countries had just 25 days to declare their intent and only a few more weeks to submit official bids, which typically require significant government support.

Mr Infantino claimed there had been “widespread consultation” about the decision. But Ms Klaveness, the Norwegian federation president, said she only found out about it when the official press release came out, and the Australian football chief executive said the changes “took us a little bit by surprise”.

Among those who weren’t surprised? Saudi Arabia. Within minutes, it came out with a statement, attributed to Prince Mohammed, that it would bid for 2034. A few hours later, the head of Asian football declared that the Saudi bid would have the full support of all its members.

Days later, Mr. Infantino left little doubt about the outcome he favored. At a summit of Asian soccer officials in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and again at an online meeting of many of the same leaders a week later, the FIFA president urged the Asian confederation — which includes Australia — to “united for the 2034 World Cup.” The message was not explicit. But it was received.

Indonesia, which had discussed a bid only a week earlier, abandoned its plan. Australia, the only remaining potential bidder, withdrew hours before the deadline. Its top official, James Johnson, said his country had concluded that any proposal stood no chance against a rival with such strong public support. “The numbers,” he said, “are against us.”