To Truly Clean Up Football, the Government Must Stand Up to FIFA and its Tyrant Backers

The Government has paid much lip service to cleaning up Britain's most popular sport. The Football Governance Bill, currently making its way through the House of Lords, pledges to do just that — introduce fit and proper persons tests for ownership, greater fan engagement, and the creation of a regulator to oversee enforcement. Yet, whilst peers wrangle over the balance sheets of Championship clubs, the very essence of the sport is being traded on a far grander scale. Last week, FIFA, football's global governing body, brazenly gifted hosting rights of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, a nation long criticised for its human rights abuses and use of sportswashing to deflect attention from its oppressive regime. The biggest threat to football, in Britain and abroad, is allowing it to be commandeered by some of the world's most brutal autocrats. If the Government truly wants to transform football for the better, it must cease enabling FIFA's corruption and ban foreign states from buying up and sponsoring our clubs.

It would be wrong to say that in handing Saudi Arabia the World Cup, FIFA has sold football's soul to the highest bidder. Alas, we have been here before: Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022 — a trail of human rights abuses justified by brown envelopes fat with dirty cash. FIFA quietly published its analysis of the Kingdom's bid late one evening, without the usual press conference or media scrutiny. The outcome was an unprecedented 4.2 out of 5, the highest score FIFA has ever awarded to a bid, with human rights concerns deemed merely "medium risk". The usual summer tournament will have to take place in winter because it is too hot to play football during the Saudi summer. Western leagues — where all the best teams and players compete — will have to stop mid-season and a dense World Cup schedule will be packed into an already congested fixture list. The result; exhausted players, diminished quality, and increased injuries.

This is before we consider due process. There was at least the pretence of a vote when Russia and Qatar won hosting rights in a contest tainted by allegations of bribery. Now FIFA has dispensed with even the facade of democracy. Since 2010, hosting has been rotated between continents. The last World Cup in Qatar represented Asia's turn; in 2026 Canada, the US, and Mexico will host. In theory, this means that no Asian country should be eligible to host until 2042. But FIFA has engineered a solution: the 2030 World Cup will be hosted across Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay — an unforgivable waste of resources that will heap costs on travelling fans and pile pressure on jet-lagged players. It also provides a convenient fast track back to Asia in time for 2034. Finally, the fact that the Saudi bid stood unopposed after Australia's timely withdrawal rather completes the picture of a carefully crafted coronation.

The Kingdom's atrocities extend far beyond the hosting process. The country has handed the death penalty to 198 people so far in 2024, some executed solely for political dissent. None have received fair trials. Migrant workers, who will inevitably build the stadiums needed to host the World Cup, have been subject to rampant and repeated abuse, including credible allegations of slave labour. If Qatar 2022 represented FIFA's corruption, Saudi 2034 adds contempt to the equation.

The response from the UK has been equally contemptible. The English, Welsh, and Scottish FAs have all backed the bid, clutching at vaporous assurances that "all fans will be made welcome". A boycott of the 2034 competition would send the necessary message, and we should invite allies to join us. Even if we act alone, we will at least demonstrate principle, withholding key talent from the tournament and avoiding a repeat of the English and Welsh FA's moral compromises in Qatar.

Yet this is merely the most visible manifestation of football's capitulation to autocratic influence. We have allowed tyrants and their sovereign wealth funds to buy up clubs like Manchester City and Newcastle United, watching as they pour money into domestic sponsorship deals, increasing our competitions' reliance on petrostate funds. This isn't just sportswashing; it has profound implications for fans. Clubs with the wealth of nation states need not worry about business fundamentals. They can buy up the best players, find loopholes in financial regulations, and systematically erode fair competition.

Of course, some — including FIFA — will argue that major sports events can catalyse reform. Perhaps, having been granted the World Cup, Saudi Arabia will cease disappearing dissenters, murdering journalists, or criminalising gay people. Perhaps it will allow freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and equality for women. Qatar's example proves otherwise: two years after hosting, it continues its mass-scale abuse of migrant workers and imprisonment of political dissidents. Since hosting in 2018, Russia has invaded a regular participant. Even if Saudi Arabia does not discriminate against foreign visitors during the tournament — and this certainly wasn't the case in Qatar — this almost makes it worse: a grand illusion of tolerance, blinding the world to the daily assault on human dignity inflicted upon its citizens.

The biggest counter-argument often goes unspoken: that we cannot afford to ban foreign state ownership, stop their sponsorship deals, or boycott their tournaments. We need Saudi investment; we need our fighter jets stationed in Qatar. The biggest hypocrites are in our own government. In opposition, Keir Starmer stopped his shadow ministers from attending Qatar 2022. "Shame on FIFA," he declared. Now as Prime Minister, he invites the Saudi Crown Prince to Premier League matches. 

The path to preserving football's integrity remains clear: boycott the 2034 World Cup and legislate against foreign state ownership and sponsorship of our clubs. These measures would not only protect the domestic game from autocratic capture but demonstrate that Britain can lead where FIFA has so dismally failed. Geopolitics is a dirtier game than football; it takes courage to minimise ethical compromises. If the Government isn't willing to lead on cleaning up football, it should stop insulting fans by pretending it cares.

Image: Flickr/No 10 Downing Street (Andrew Parsons)

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