The Football Association says it supported Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup after being assured all fans would be safe and welcome.
As expected, the governing body for English football backed the Saudi bid and a multi-nation hosting of the 2030 World Cup at Wednesday afternoon’s online FIFA Congress, where the tournament hosts were officially confirmed.
The FA released a statement after the meeting, which said: “Our focus is on ensuring that all our fans can attend and enjoy tournaments.
“The FA board met the Saudi Arabian Football Federation last month to discuss their bid in more detail.
“We asked them to commit to ensuring all fans would be safe and welcome in Saudi Arabia in 2034 – including LGBTQ+ fans. They assured us that they are fully committed to providing a safe and welcome environment for all fans.”
Some senior FA officials are known to have been wary of accusations of hypocrisy if it were not to support Saudi Arabia but then wants England to participate.
The FA will also be mindful of having caved in to FIFA’s threats of sporting sanctions at the Qatar World Cup, when it and some other associations abandoned plans for players to wear ‘OneLove’ armbands intended as an anti-discrimination protest.
But with a potential joint bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup, the British football federations may have been keen to avoid a rift with FIFA.
And the FA will also have been aware of Saudi Arabia’s importance to the UK Government as a key ally in the Middle East, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visiting the country’s Crown Prince this week in a bid to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.
Last year, Jake Daniels, the UK’s only openly gay active male professional footballer, told the BBC he “wouldn’t feel safe” at a Saudi World Cup.
When the country’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal was asked by BBC Sport last year what he would say to female and gay fans worrying whether they would be safe to attend, he said that “everyone is welcome”.
Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 event, while the 2030 World Cup was awarded to unopposed co-hosts Spain, Morocco and Portugal, with early matches also being played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
Rather than a traditional vote, the ratification process was confirmed by acclamation – with federations in favour asked to show their support by applauding for each bid in turn.
On Friday, the DFB – Germany’s national football association – announced it would vote in favour of both bids.
“We did not make the decision lightly and carefully examined the application for the 2034 World Cup,” DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said.
“We take the criticism of the applicant country seriously and will continue to engage in dialogue. Our goal is to work together with FIFA to improve the situation in the coming years.”
