We should all be worried about Saudi Arabia hosting the 2034 World Cup

Fifa’s handing of the 2034 Men’s World Cup to Saudi Arabia, by breaking its own rules and without conducting proper human rights due diligence, highlights why the UK needs to act fast and take a firm stance against “sportswashing” before it’s too late.

A piece of legislation currently making its way through parliament in the UK – the Football Governance Bill, at the committee stage in the House of Lords – should explicitly rule out individuals and entities implicated in grave human rights abuses from securing stakes in football clubs in England and Wales. The new Human Rights Watch report about how Saudi Arabia is using its sovereign wealth fund, which holds a majority stake in Newcastle United, is a prime example.

All this comes amid a rising global trend of sporting infrastructure being taken over and used by authoritarian governments as a tool to whitewash their poor human rights records. The bill seeks to reform the game following years of rising financial inequality between clubs by establishing an independent regulator for English football. A key function of the regulator will be to establish an independent “owners’ and directors’ test”, used to assess the suitability of prospective football club owners.

The Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test has historically failed to consider human rights and lacked transparency. Reassuringly, the current version of the bill omits a controversial clause from the original version offered under the previous government, that would have required the regulator to consider the UK government’s “foreign policy and trade objectives” when deciding on prospective owners.

The controversial takeover of Newcastle United in October 2021 by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the opaque manner in which the deal was conducted is a clear case in point. Prior to the takeover, human rights organisations urged the Premier League to consider Saudi Arabia’s human rights record when evaluating the PIF’s bid.

Premier League CEO, Richard Masters, claimed the league had received “legally binding assurances” that Saudi Arabia would not control the club, despite the PIF being a Saudi state entity effectively controlled unilaterally by the crown prince Mohamed bin Salman. A new Human Rights Watch report published last month lifts the lid on how the crown prince has consolidated unprecedented state economic power under his sole decision-making with few if any, constraints on how he deploys his nation’s wealth.

The report reveals what it says is the PIF’s role in facilitating and benefiting from serious human rights violations directly linked to the Saudi crown prince through the companies it owns and controls. And a cache of leaked WhatsApp messages reported in the UK showed that he was personally involved in the Newcastle United deal, the report claims.

The new research also claims there are links between the majority shareholders at Newcastle United, the PIF, and rights abuses linked to the crown prince, including how one of his advisers ordered the seizure and transfer of 20 companies to the PIF while their owners were being held captive. Among these companies was Sky Prime Aviation, it is said, a charter jet company whose planes were used by Saudi agents in 2018 to travel to Istanbul, where they brutally murdered the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The PIF also funds several high-profile projects linked to serious rights violations.

These include the development of futuristic city, Neom, which has been marred by forced evictions, labour abuses and arrests of dissenters. The connection between these appalling abuses and the owners of a Premier League club highlights an alarming lack of human rights standards and due diligence in English football, which should be of great concern to UK policymakers. Fans are well aware of how authoritarian regimes are exploiting their beautiful game as an image-laundering tactic.

Groups like Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFAS) have fiercely condemned the Saudi PIF’s takeover of their club and the continued connection with Saudi Arabia, including through the club’s kit sponsors. And they’re not alone, a survey of Newcastle fans conducted in October 2021 found that 83 per cent of fans polled were concerned by Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. The Football Governance Bill is the government’s opportunity to address fans’ concerns by disqualifying individuals and entities implicated in human rights abuses from securing stakes in football clubs.

Newcastle United is just one piece of a broader Saudi sportswashing strategy: from the LIV Golf merger in 2023, to hosting some of the world’s largest sporting events in Formula One, boxing, tennis, and football, including now the upcoming 2034 Saudi World Cup. It is a strategy they have invested heavily in, and which appears to be reaping rewards.

The Football Governance Bill is an important opportunity for the UK to lead by example. By listening to the concerns of fans and human rights organizations, closing loopholes in legislation and ensuring robust human rights due diligence measures, lawmakers can ensure English football is protected for its fans and our clubs don’t become playthings for dictators and despots.

Robbie Newton is the senior Asia coordinator at Human Rights Watch