The swiftness with which FIFA handled the hosting rights for 2030 and 2034 has led some to question Gianni Infantinogetty images
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s advocacy for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup has “left many in soccer concerned" about his "motivations, and questioning if he is using his position to prioritize FIFA’s interests or those of a friendly partner that has been leveraging its wealth to wield influence in the sport,” according to Tariq Panja of the N.Y. TIMES. A FIFA spokesperson said that "nothing improper had been done to ensure that the World Cup went to a preferred candidate." But Panja writes the “swiftness and secrecy” with which FIFA handled the hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments has “brought new criticism of the way soccer is governed, and how the organization’s most consequential decisions are now made by a small group of top executives,” led by Infantino, and then “rubber-stamped by a pliant governing council.” Saudi Arabia has "never hid its desire to host" a World Cup and the country “found an enthusiastic ally” in Infantino. In many ways, its ambitions “dovetailed with his own” as Infantino “sought to create new legacy-defining events and projects, all of which would require major infusions of new capital.” The relationship between Infantino and Saudi Arabia “only grew closer” as he began to engage in “private diplomacy that benefited Saudi Arabia’s World Cup ambitions.” There was "little doubt about the outcome he favored” as FIFA "unexpectedly said that it was bringing forward the bid process for the 2034 tournament by at least three years, limiting the countries who could bid for it in ways that favored the Saudi bid" (
N.Y. TIMES, 11/15).
