The FA chair claims that supporting Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid “wasn’t a difficult decision”

Chair Debbie Hewitt announced on Friday that England’s FA has voted to support Saudi Arabia’s application to host the 2034 World Cup after being comforted by responses they got from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) during a meeting last month.

On Wednesday, the Kingdom was formally granted the World Cup by FIFA, the world soccer governing body, after the only bid for the competition was unanimously accepted.

Following the announcement, several human rights organizations blasted FIFA harshly, citing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

The Kingdom has made significant investments in sports in recent years, but detractors, such as LGBTQ people and women’s rights organizations, claim it is using its Public Investment Fund to sportswash its human rights record.

Claims of violations of human rights are denied by the government, which claims that its laws safeguard national security.
Before Saudi Arabia was officially confirmed as the World Cup hosts, the FA claimed to have met with the SAFF in November.

“I believe the decision-making process was really comprehensive, so it wasn’t tough. We got to know the Saudis well and knew how they approached the competition,” Hewitt told the BBC.

“They offered us a lot of time and commitments, and we asked a lot of questions. The most significant thing, in my opinion, is that we will now work with them over the following ten years before the tournament to ensure that those obligations are fulfilled on both sides.

“The responses we received gave us comfort, and we believe this is a collaboration. It’s not simply the host in a tournament. A competition is about the people who participate, and that’s what we want to do.”

Several soccer federations, including England’s FA, had intended to wear “OneLove” armbands during the World Cup in Qatar to express their opposition to discrimination. However, FIFA threatened to impose sports punishment, so the plans were abandoned.