Bread and Circuses: The race to host the 2030 World Cup is already well under way
Alamy
A Saudi-led World Cup bid is making a head start on joint candidates from Iberia and South America in the race for the 2030 finals.
FIFA Congress will make a decision in 2024, but Saudi’s huge lobbying machine was already in evidence at Qatar 2022. Messi, “Saudi House”, Ronaldo and the hiring of several key influencers are just some of the “tools” being activated.
Why it matters: FIFA’s leadership now has far less influence over the awarding of the World Cup. However, it can heavily steer a decision through its technical report, but every member association now has an equal vote.
The perspective: FIFA would need to ditch the human rights assessments for candidates it installed after the Qatar controversies in order to let Saudi’s joint bid run.
23 December 2022 - 1:00 PM
Less than a month after the spectacular denouement to the Qatar World Cup and with a vast rise in revenues forecast for the United 2026 finals, attention has turned to where the 2030 tournament will go.
Bids from Europe, the Middle East and South America have been positioning themselves for the last two years, but the Qatar World Cup saw a flurry of backroom action and the coming months should see official unveilings for a bid race that will con
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