Saudi Arabia To Host The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup

All roads lead to Riyadh. At least, in the view of soccer’s world governing body FIFA and its controversial president Gianni Infantino. On Tuesday, just days after Spanish giant Real Madrid clinched the Club World Cup with a 5-3 victory against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, FIFA said that the Arab Kingdom will host the 2023 edition of the tournament. It will be the first time the country will stage a FIFA competition in the Infantino age, having previously hosted the Confederations Cup in 1997.

It was the latest coup for the House of Saud. In the past, the country has repeatedly wanted to position itself as a new player in soccer and sports at large in an elaborate reputation-laundering exercise: a Saudi-funded Club World Cup, worth $25 billion; the long-running pursuit of a Premier League team, the launching of a new regional soccer federation, a Saudi sports channel that would drive up global TV rights, and the explicit backing of FIFA’s biennial World Cup.

Most of those ideas fell flat, but the acquisition of Newcastle United through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – which according to the Premier League has little to do with the Saudi state – and Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Al Nassr have reinforced Saudi credentials as a burgeoning player in the global game.

In Morocco, at the recent Club World Cup, ‘Visit Saudi’ and Neom’s sponsorship branding were ubiquitous. Visit Saudi, the Kingdom’s official tourism board and new sponsor of the Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand this summer, already enjoyed brand visibility during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The hosting rights to the 2023 Club World Cup are but the next step in Saudi Arabia’s grand plans. Saudi Arabia will also host the 2027 Asian Cup and is actively bidding the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. The ultimate goal, however, is sports’ quadrennial mega event, the World Cup.

The Saudi have lined up a bid for the 2030 competition alongside Greece and Egypt. In that sense, the Kingdom’s sponsorship of FIFA tournaments is invaluable. It brings influence.

Zurich supremo Infantino has nurtured a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, often visiting Riyadh and meeting with crown prince Mohamed bin Salman, who remains one of the most controversial and influential world leaders because of Saudi Arabia’s lamentable human rights record, discrimination of women and minorities, and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Brand Saudi Arabia is deeply flawed. The country ‘spends billions of dollars hosting major entertainment, cultural, and sporting events as a deliberate strategy to deflect from the country’s image as a pervasive human rights violator’ according to Human Rights Watch.

Those considerations have however not prevented Infantino from seeking close ties with Saudi Arabia. In 2021, the FIFA boss featured in a Saudi government PR video, near a historical site claiming ‘this is something the world should come to see’ and adding ‘the Saudi food is delicious … top, very tasty.’

After Qatar, Infantino and FIFA’s pivot to Riyadh was predictable, but the fact that no questions were asked at the Council over the proposal to stage the tournament in Saudi Arabia is telling of how Infantino leads FIFA and the direction he is taking the game into. Saudi Arabia bidding for FIFA tournaments should be a test of the organisation’s human rights policies, but in the awarding of the 2023 Club World Cup there simply was no debate, as confirmed by multiple sources. No objection from any confederation. The lack of human rights due diligence does not destroy FIFA’s belief that engagement is the most constructive approach in seeking improvement.

However transfer system and agent reforms aside, Infantino has done little to clean up in Zurich: the lack of good governance – ignited by removing Domenico Scala, Hans-Joachim Eckert and Cornel Borbely – and transparency is persistent. The destination of development money remains murky, but Infantino’s facilitation of Saudi interests is above all instructive of an organisation that will stop at nothing to make the money.