The Saudi state-owned oil company, Aramco, has signed a four-year partnership with the International Football Association Board, FIFA. The agreement covers, among other things, the men's World Cup in 2026 and the women's World Cup in 2027. Both companies announced this without revealing the financial details of the agreement, which makes Aramco the exclusive partner in the energy category.
- The partnership will help FIFA successfully organize its major tournaments over the next four years and, as is the case with all our commercial agreements, it will enable us to provide increased support to our 211 FIFA associations around the world, says FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The collaboration does not come as a huge surprise to critics, after FIFA confirmed in October last year that Saudi Arabia is the sole host of the men's World Cup in 2034.
Saudi Arabia announced its bid on October 4. This happened a few hours after Fifa had awarded the 2030 finals to a joint bid from Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Fifa also set October 31 as the deadline for bids for the 2034 finals, giving potential suitors less than a month to bid. Australia considered it, but never submitted a bid.
Critics: Fifa has paved the way for Saudi Arabia
It is Asia or Oceania's turn to host the 2034 World Cup, as North America, with the USA, Canada and Mexico, will host the finals in 2026, and Africa, Europe and South America are covered by Fifa in 2030.
Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will each host one match in 2030, before the rest of the finals are held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. All six countries have directly qualified for the 2030 final round as hosts.
Critics have seen the unusual construction and the short deadline as an attempt to pave the way for Saudi Arabia as host in 2034. The Danish Football Association (DBU), among others, has expressed criticism of Saudi Arabia as host.
- We do not believe that Saudi Arabia lives up to the high human rights standards that we from the Danish side think a country should meet, said DBU director Erik Brøgger last year.
Brøgger and DBU will press for FIFA to now seriously work on its own criteria for a host country before Saudi Arabia is officially designated as World Cup host.
- This applies to the requirements that are both commercial and stadiums, but also human rights, labor rights, media and press freedom, Brøgger said after FIFA revealed that it Saudi bid stands alone.
/ritzau/
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