Saudi Arabia set to host 2034 World Cup after Australia decides not to bid

Saudi Arabia is set to host the World Cup in 2034 after Australia, the only country that had expressed interest in hosting the event, decided at the last minute not to bid.

Qatar hosted the World Cup in 2022. This would be the second Arab Gulf nation to host the World Cup.

This move will likely be seen by many as being highly controversial.

Saudi Arabia is set to host the World Cup in 2034 after Australia, the only country that had expressed interest in hosting the event, decided at the last minute not to bid.

Football Australia released a statement on Tuesday just hours before FIFA’s deadline for declaring interest.

This puts Saudi Arabia in a position to host the FIFA World Cup in a decade -- a decision that is likely to be highly controversial.

Qatar hosted the World Cup in 2022.

Human rights activists were outraged by the selection of Qatar to host the event. They accused the country of mistreating migrant workers and endangering LGBT lives. Qatar responded by saying that everyone is welcome and denied reports that thousands had died in building the stadiums. However, it said that the country was allowed to set its laws.

The World Cup was held in winter because of the high temperatures in the Gulf Region during the summer.

Morocco, Spain, and Portugal will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The three opening matches of this tournament will take place in South America.

Saudi Arabia has been criticized for the well-documented violations of human rights, infringements on women's rights, and criminalization homosexuality. Amnesty International stated that Saudi Arabia had the highest number of executions per year in 30 years in 2022, with 196 victims.

In response to a question in an interview about the abuses of human rights by the Saudi Arabian government, said there were "bad laws" that he "didn't like", but that he could not interfere with the judiciary. Saudi rights activists and observers have

Reject this assertion

.

Human rights groups have called the multi-billion dollar investment in sports and international sporting events that has taken place over the past few years, as part of Vision 2030's project to diversify its economy away form oil. Human rights groups have referred to this as "sportswashing".

The Saudi leader said that he didn't care

. He is willing to continue the "sportswashing", if this increases his country's GNP.

From early 2021 to June 2023, the Kingdom will be in full swing.

Spending $6.1 billion on Sports Investments

The Guardian conducted an analysis.

Saudi Arabia, in recent years, has made a number of

High-profile sporting acquisitions include recruiting soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo

You can also find out more about the following:

Karim Benzema

The local teams of the company have contracts worth hundreds millions of dollars.

Some of the other big-name transfers in recent years include Chelsea's N'Golo Koulibaly and Kalidou Koulibaly; Lyon's Moussa Demobele; and Manchester City's Riyadh Mahrez.

These huge investments are not limited to soccer. They also include golf, auto racing, boxing and other sports. In June of this year, the amount invested in a

Surprise merger between Saudi Arabian LIV Golf tournament's newcomer and American PGA Tour

The scandal has shocked the sports world and enraged commentators, athletes and fans, as well as some U.S. legislators.