Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions

What an ugly day for the beautiful game.

By awarding the 2034 men’s World Cup to Saudi Arabia, a country with an abysmal record on human rights, treatment of women, the LGBTQ community and migrant workers, FIFA sold its soul. What was left of it, anyway.

“Everyone gave up something for the benefit of all, for the greater good. These are precisely the values at the heart of FIFA,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Wednesday, not realizing, or caring, he was giving the game away as he opened the Extraordinary FIFA Congress that rubber stamped the hosts for the men’s World Cups in 2030 and 2034.

Infantino and his minions have abandoned all pretense of doing the right thing or keeping the World Cup from being anything but a shameless money grab. All that matters is the gazillions of dollars Saudi Arabia is putting in their pockets, and FIFA members have fallen obediently in line.

They ignored their own bidding rules, strong-arming South America into giving up its hopes of hosting the 100th anniversary of the World Cup and instead accepting a non-sensical arrangement that will see the first three games in 2030 played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the tournament moves to Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

They ensured that Saudi Arabia would be the only candidate in 2034, icing out Australia with a procedural maneuver that would have made it impossible to mount a comprehensive bid. They “sportswashed” Saudi Arabia’s documented record of migrant worker abuses and deaths, punishment of opposition — anyone remember Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist who was butchered at the command of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman? — and intolerance of LGBTQ people in an evaluation report released last month, rating human rights concerns at only a "medium."

And in case any country decided to get cute and mount a protest campaign, Infantino decreed that the votes Wednesday would be by acclimation. Via Zoom. If a country is registering its dissent by refusing to clap, can it even be noticed in a panel of 200-plus screens?

Oh, Norway tried to object, submitting a letter criticizing FIFA for ignoring human rights concerns and subverting its own processes. Switzerland asked for an independent human rights monitor, as well as oversight by the International Labor Organization on World Cup-related projects.

Bless their hearts. Infantino moved heaven and earth to get that Saudi cash. He wasn’t about to be deterred now.

“We are, of course, aware of critics and fears. And I fully trust our hosts to address all open points from this process and deliver a FIFA World Cup that meets the world’s expectations. That is exactly why we went through this bidding procedure and why we have a transparency that will shape real and lasting change,” Infantino said.

“Social improvements, positive human rights impacts — that is one of the responsibilities of hosting a World Cup.”

Tell that to the families of the migrant workers who died building the palaces for the World Cup in Qatar two years ago. Or the women in Qatar still under the thumbs of their male guardians. Or the members of the LGBTQ community in Qatar who’ve been subjected to harassment and abuse.

Tell that to the fans and sponsors who got suckered into thinking Qatar would abide by its promise not to impose Islamic restrictions on a global event only to do as it pleased.

Infantino and FIFA don’t give a damn what their hosts do so long as the checks keep coming. And everybody, Saudi Arabia included, knows it.

“FIFA has once again turned a blind eye to basic human rights in favor of profit,” Mandeep Tiwana, co-secretary general of CIVICUS, an umbrella organization of human rights groups including Amnesty International and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.

“It is condemning migrant workers in Saudi Arabia to suffer … placing lives on the line to make spectator sport a reality.” 

The saddest part of all this is that it didn’t have to be this way.

It wasn’t even a decade ago that a series of raids by U.S. and Swiss authorities threw FIFA’s leadership into chaos and laid bare the graft and greed that had become the governing body’s defining feature. Change was promised, with a detailed bid process designed to ensure transparency and prevent the corruption that had tainted the awarding of so many recent World Cups. The bids would be evaluated by FIFA, and qualified ones would be put to a vote by the Congress.

As he campaigned for the FIFA presidency, Infantino endorsed these new procedures that were supposed to ensure the World Cup, FIFA’s crown jewel, went to the host that was most worthy, not just the most wealthy.

And yet, a year ago, after back-room deals that still haven't been explained and accelerated timelines that blocked any competition for Saudi Arabia, FIFA announced there would be just one bid each for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups. The Congress would "vote" on them, but Wednesday's session was the definition of performative.

Human rights weren't the only thing deemed to be an inconvenience by FIFA in this process. Its pledge to protect the environment is laughable, with one tournament spread across six countries on three different continents while the other requires the building or refurbishment of 11 stadiums and construction of 185,000 hotel rooms.

"We are not equal. We know that," Infantino said. "But we are learning to accept each other with our differences, as part of this one global community."

Infantino would have you believe that our differences are simply matters of opinion. But it's greater than that. There are people who care about doing what is right and treating others with dignity and respect. And there are people who only care about how much money they can get, the true cost of their riches be damned. This sham of a bidding process has left little doubt in which category Infantino and FIFA belong.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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