Saudi rights activist says 2034 World Cup visitors will live in 'a bubble' and not see real life

LONDON — Soccer fans visiting Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup will live in a “bubble” during the tournament that does not reflect real life there, a Saudi rights activist warned on Thursday.

After FIFA confirmed the kingdom as the 2034 tournament host on Wednesday, the soccer body president Gianni Infantino acknowledged “the world will be watching” to see positive social change.

Human rights groups believe migrant workers’ lives will be at risk building stadiums and other projects for the World Cup, and Saudi Arabia’s laws limiting freedoms for women and LGBTQ+ people have been criticized at the United Nations Human Rights council.

“Western people will be very safe. They will see a bubble of what Saudi Arabia is,” Lina al-Hathloul, a Saudi activist with the London-based rights group ALQST, said.

Her sister, Loujain al-Hathloul, was jailed for three years after campaigning to end the Saudi ban on women driving that was lifted in 2018, and lives there under a travel ban.

Saudi Arabia is today “a pure police state,” Lina al-Hathloul claimed, under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose close working ties to Infantino were key to getting the World Cup without a rival bid.

The crown prince “has really managed to create this bubble where people only see entertainment and they don’t see the reality on the ground,” al-Hathloul said. “No one will see tortures in prisons and no one will see executions. You also have the jails full of people just for tweets.”

Saudi officials stressed during a 15-month bid campaign, made mostly opaque by FIFA, that the kingdom is modernizing fast and hosting soccer’s biggest event will drive more change.

“We’re very proud of the society that we are today,” Hammad Albalawi, from the 2034 World Cup bid team, said on Wednesday in Riyadh, stating the kingdom’s goals are “to make the citizens global citizens and to welcome guests from all around the world.”

Only Norway of FIFA’s 211 member federations opposed how the 2034 decision was made by acclaim on Wednesday. Two years ago, on the eve of the World Cup in Qatar, Infantino accused Europeans of hypocrisy giving moral lessons to other regions and cultures.

On Wednesday, the English Football Association said it got promises from Saudi officials before giving support.

“They assured us that they are fully committed to providing a safe and welcome environment for all fans,” the English FA said in a statement, “including LGBTQ+ fans.”

Two days before the vote, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Prince Mohammed in Riyadh and said Saudi Arabia was a key partner in his “number one mission” of economic growth.

Starmer, who is an Arsenal fan, said he hoped to watch a game with the crown prince on a future visit to London.

“You have some changes,” Al-Hathloul said, noting more freedoms for Saudi women to choose what to wear, “but they’re not institutional, they’re not fundamental, and they’re not for everyone.”