Inside Man: How FIFA Brought the World Cup to Saudi Arabia
As the world reeled from the coronavirus crisis in the fall of 2020, the president of football’s global governing body, Gianni Infantino, went to Rome for an audience with the Italian prime minister.
Wearing masks and bumping elbows, 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 ornate state apartments of the 16th century . century Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Italian leader.
Mr. Infantino explained subsequently that they had discussed football’s path to recovery from pandemic shutdowns. He made no mention of the other pressing topic he came to discuss.
Away from television cameras, Mr. Infantino surprised Italians by revealing himself as a pitcher for Saudi Arabia’s 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 staged on three continents in 2030. Italy, he said, could be that partner.
Mr Conte listened politely, but had known that such a partnership was politically impossible: Italy had strained relations with Egypt over the brutal murder of a young Italian journalist in Cairo in 2016, and there was continued unease across Europe over the role of Saudi Arabia in the fight against Egypt. 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, columnist for The Washington Post.
Italy’s response to Infantino’s suggestion was initially “cautious and negative within a few hours,” said 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, after a fast-track process that surprised its own members, FIFA confirmed that Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup. Within hours, Mr. Infantino suggested in a social media post that his status as host was a foregone conclusion and other Gulf rulers greeted it a “Arab victory” – even though the official vote would take almost a year.
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 idea of co-hosting the Saudis to Greece; favored Saudi investments of millions of dollars in football; and helped push through rule changes that all but assured the kingdom would end up with the World Cup.
His efforts were hardly clandestine. But many in football have worried about Mr Infantino’s motivations, wondering whether he is using his position to prioritize the interests of FIFA or those of a friendly partner who has used his wealth to gain influence to practice sports.
“How can we check that the growth of the game and the values of the game are leading, and not personal relationships?” said Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation and critic of FIFA’s governing body.
FIFA responded through a spokesperson on behalf of the president to questions about Mr. Infantino’s actions, 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 will take place through an open and transparent bidding process,” the spokesperson said, adding that Mr Infantino had not “initiated or initiated” discussions about Saudi Arabia’s bid with potential partners.
Yet the speed and secrecy with which FIFA handled the hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments has drawn fresh criticism of the way football is governed, and of how the organisation’s most consequential decisions are now made by a small group top managers, led by Mr. Infantino, and then with the stamp of a flexible board of directors.
“What is incredible is that this is the new FIFA,” said Miguel Maduro, the first executive appointed by Infantino amid promises of transparency and ethics reforms. “Yet they are basically going back to the same old way of awarding World Cups.”
Saudi Arabia has never hidden its desire to organize one. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi state has given sport a prominent role in efforts to project a new image of the country: vibrant, modern and open. Billions have been spent on boxing matches, Formula One car races, the LIV Golf tour and, most recently, to lure some of the most famous football stars to Saudi Arabia’s national league.
However, the biggest prize 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 projects that would define its legacy, all of which would require a major infusion of new capital.
In 2018, for example, Mr. Infantino stunned members of FIFA’s board by demanding permission to strike a deal for new competitions with investors whose identities he refused to reveal. (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 angered many in football by saying FIFA would study a proposal — offered by the Federation of Saudi Arabia. – to hold the World Cup every two years. (The unpopular concept was shelved after an angry backlash.)
Despite these failures, Mr. Infantino’s relationship with Saudi Arabia only grew closer. He has regularly advertised the 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 during a boxing match in Jeddah. Months later, the FIFA president repaid the favor in the opening match of the World Cup in Qatar. Just last month, the men were photographed side by side at another event in Riyadh.
“It’s meant to convey a message,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. “It’s like a visual symbol of placing your thumb on the scale.”
At the same time, Mr. Infantino also engaged in private diplomacy that furthered Saudi Arabia’s World Cup ambitions.
After Italy decided to join 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 for the 2030 World Cup.
Instead, Saudi Arabia shifted its focus. Realizing that the proposal between Spain, Portugal and Morocco was likely to succeed over an unlikely bid from four countries from South America, the Saudis realized they could take advantage of FIFA rules that would prevent countries from Europe and Africa from to participate in the 2034 tournament when that bidding process began. .
FIFA then made two more remarkable 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 put South America in the bidding between Portugal, Spain and Morocco – and eliminated yet another continent from the 2034 eligible bidders.
But with the 2030 host nations in order, FIFA unexpectedly said it would bring forward the bidding process for the 2034 tournament by at least three years, limiting the number of nations that could bid for it in a way that favored the Saudi bid, and planned to complete it in 2030. which represented an impossible timeline for most countries: interested countries were given just 25 days to declare their intent, and just 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 president of the Norwegian federation, said she only heard about it when the official press release came out, and Australian Football’s chief executive said the changes “took us a bit by surprise.”
Among those who are not surprised? Saudi Arabia. Within minutes, the country released 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 effort would have the full support of its entire membership.
Days later, Mr. Infantino left little doubt about the outcome he preferred. At a summit of Asian football 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 “to be 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 potential bidder left, withdrew hours before the deadline. The top official, James Johnson, later said his country had concluded that the proposal had no chance against a rival with such strong public support. “The numbers,” he said, “are against us.”