That’s how big it will be! Gianni Infantino, very modestly
A good three weeks before the decision, the foreseeable awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia is also putting the German Football Association under pressure. If the DFB agrees to decide on the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 finals, “then ultimately the feeling will remain that, despite all the nice words and declarations, human rights (…) are subordinated to other interests,” said Katja Müller-Fahlbusch, exemplifying the criticism from Amnesty International the broadcaster RTL.
All 211 member associations have one vote in the World Cup award, which will be made at a digital FIFA Congress on December 11th. There is no doubt that the 2030 and 2034 hosts have been awarded the contract with an overwhelming majority.
Both world championships will be awarded en bloc during the online congress, i.e. in just one vote. There is only one application for each. The 2030 World Cup is scheduled to be played in Morocco, Portugal and Spain after opening games in South America; Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for 2034. A vote against one of the final rounds would also be a vote against the other.
“In the past few months, the DFB has held a number of discussions with a wide variety of institutions and facilities regarding the overall 2030/2034 World Cup awards,” said the DFB RTL with. A final decision as to how the DFB will position itself has not yet been made. RTL However, reported that at a meeting of the executive committee at the beginning of November there was agreement that the DFB would agree to the double award.
The DFB Presidium will “finally deal with the matter before the FIFA Congress and will of course inform the public afterwards,” said the DFB. Human rights organizations had repeatedly expressed grave concerns and clearly criticized Saudi Arabia. Amnesty recently announced that Saudi Arabia has an appalling human rights record.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann took part in an interview ahead of the DFB team’s Nations League encounter against Hungary in Budapest RTL It was clear that, beyond his private opinion on Saudi Arabia, which he did not want to express, he had to focus on sporting matters. »I think it’s obvious that not everything works perfectly in Saudi Arabia. But these are not our basis for evaluation. We have to prepare ourselves sportingly – whether it takes place under my direction or not, we’ll see – so that we can play a good tournament,” he emphasized. “In the end, we as coaches and as a team don’t make the decision, but rather in completely different areas, different spheres where these decisions are made,” was his summary. Nagelsmann extended his contract in April until the upcoming 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
