Saudi Arabia is set to host the men’s 2034 World Cup after Australia decided against bidding to stage the tournament.
Football Australia confirmed its decision only hours before Fifa’s deadline for declarations of interest on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia is the only other nation to bid.
“We have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” read a statement from Football Australia.
Australia’s governing body says it intends to focus its efforts on hosting the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the Club World Cup in 2029.
The 2026 World Cup will take place in the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Morocco, Portugal, and Spain will host the 2030 tournament, with matches also in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Fifa had said the 2034 World Cup would be held in Asia or Oceania, and an Australian bid was regarded as the only potential challenger to Saudi Arabia, which announced its intention to bid shortly after Fifa’s decision.
Despite receiving support from the Asian Football Confederation, Saudi Arabia would likely be viewed as a controversial host.
It has been criticised for its human rights violations—81 men were executed on one day last year—women’s rights abuses, the criminalization of homosexuality, the restriction of free speech, and the war in Yemen.
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist based in the US and a well-known critic of the government, in 2018 severely harmed Saudi Arabia’s reputation abroad.
Human rights activists claim that the Saudi government is engaging in a practice known as “sportswashing,” which uses sport to obscure long-standing reputational problems.
Last week, Human Rights Watch said: “The possibility that Fifa could award Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup despite its appalling human rights record and closed door to any monitoring exposes Fifa’s commitments to human rights as a sham.”
On Tuesday, Amnesty International called on Fifa to secure “clear and binding commitments” from Saudi Arabia.
It said: “Human rights commitments must be agreed upon with potential hosts before final decisions on holding the tournaments are made.
“The best chance for Fifa to obtain binding guarantees to protect workers’ rights, ensure freedom of expression, and prevent discrimination linked to the World Cup is during the host selection process, not after the hosts have been confirmed and tournament preparation has begun.”
Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup drew criticism because of its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record, and its treatment of migrant workers.
Fifa dropped plans for Saudi Arabia to sponsor the 2023 Women’s World Cup following a backlash from co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, players, and sponsors, but Saudi Arabia is keen to host the 2035 tournament after forming a women’s team last year.
Like the 2022 men’s tournament, the 2034 edition would almost certainly be held in winter because of the extreme heat in the summer, although modernising existing infrastructure rather than building new stadiums would likely make it more environmentally friendly than Qatar.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed a takeover of Newcastle United in 2021, and manager Eddie Howe said: “Our trips out there to Riyadh and Jeddah were two very different experiences.
“Everywhere we went was well organised; we were well looked after. If that’s a sign of what a World Cup might look like structurally, it will be really good.”
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said bidding for the World Cup was “not going to be favourable to Australia”.
He said, “Saudi is a strong bid. They have a lot of resources, and not just for the 2034 World Cup.
“They are disrupting European football by paying higher dollars. This is a disruption in the market, and that is what positions Saudi Arabia in a strong way. From the top down, the government is prioritizing investment in football. That is difficult to compete with.”
